Possesed Impulse
by purifiedgleek
Summary: Rachel Berry lives in a council flat with her daughter Abigail, one day her life changes. She meets the cutest, richest man in Lima, the only problem is if her abusive husband found out it would be endgame. It's better then it sounds :)
1. Chapter 1

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, finally her and Abigail would be safe.

'Mumma, why did we have to leave our house?' Abigail asked confused

'Sweetie, you're far to young to understand.' She explained, kissing Abigail's forehead.

Abigail nodded, before Rachel reminded her 'It's time for bed now sweetie, you've got a big day tomorrow!'

'Preschool!' She exclaimed, jumping up and down.

A smile tugged at Rachel's lips, before she placed Abigail into the yellow painted cot.

'Goodnight baby.' She said, switching off the lights.

'Snuggles first?' Abigail asked

Rachel smiled and nodded 'Yeah. Come here . . .'

Abigail crawled into Rachel's lap and Rachel responded by wrapping her arms around her daughter's tiny frame, holding her close as she lay back down. She breathed in her familiar scent and knew that she had done the right thing in running away. They might not have been living in a palace but she would do anything to keep her safe and if it meant swapping a mansion for a scruffy two bed then so be it. As long as they were together and Abigail was safe, Rachel knew she didn't really care where they lived.

* * *

The next day was Abigail's first day at preschool.

Rachel covered her in a pink t-shirt that had 'minnie mouse' printed on it, she finished the outfit with a pair of jeans and some white fluffy boots.

'Me tired mama.' Abigail said, rubbing her eyes.

'I know you are baby but, you have your first day at nursery today.' Rachel reminded her, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could manage, though she would have much preferred to curl up in bed for the day.

'I no go?'

'You need to go and once you get there I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends. They have lots of toys there for you to play with too.'

'Lots?' Abigail repeated, excited

Rachel nodded, happy her child was finally brightening up to the idea 'lots and lots'

Abigail clapped

Rachel tied Abigail's main of brown hair into a high pony tail before telling her daughter 'There you go, you look beautiful.'

After checking her phone, Rachel picked Abigail up and held her on her hip as she walked downstairs and handed her a little bag that she'd packed for her the night before. 'Here baby . . .'

'What's dis?' Questioned Abbey.

'You have to take it to nursery sweetheart.' Rachel replied

'Why?'

'It's got some things of yours in. Do you want to carry it.'

Abigail paused for a moment as if contemplating the question before she nodded and Rachel moved to stand behind her to place a strap over each of her arms so that it was on her back. After picking up her own bag Rachel held her hand out to Abigail before leaving the flat they'd only moved into the day before. She walked slowly along the path to allow Abigail to keep up with her, chattering as they went.

Rachel stopped outside of the nursery she had managed to get Abigail into at such short notice and crouched down in front of her so that they were of a similar height. 'Are you ready baby?' Rachel whispered and adjusted the headband her daughter was wearing.

Abigail shook her head and stepped closer 'no . . . I stay with you?'

'I thought you wanted to play with all of the toys?' She questioned, confused

'I play with my toys' Abigail replied

Rachel bit down on the inside of her lip as she tried desperately to keep her emotions under control and coax her daughter into nursery. It wasn't that she wanted rid of her, but Rachel knew she needed at least some time on her own to try and get their lives more organized than they currently were.

'Play with your toys when you get home?' she offered, hoping to meet somewhere in the middle.

'No I play with them now.' Abigail stepped closer to Rachel so that she was now standing between her legs as a shadow loomed over them and Rachel felt her heart beat speed up dramatically. Abigail placed her head in the crook of Rachel's neck as she wrapped her arm protectively around her waist. On turning around she found a fairly tall man with hair as dark as her own standing to the side of her. She frowned momentarily, utterly confused until she noticed the little boy stood at his side who was the spitting image of him.

Rachel swallowed; he really was very handsome. 'Hi . . ' she managed unsure of what he wanted.

He smiled, an adorable lopsided grin and Rachel felt herself automatically smiling back at him. 'I'm Finn, can I?' he gestured to Abigail with a nod who now had her hands curled around the material of Rachel's cardigan. She found herself nodding at his request.

The handsome stranger kneeled down so he was also of a similar height to Abigail and Rachel as he spoke softly, 'hey . . .'

'Abigail' Rachel replied, answering his unspoken question.

He smiled at Rachel 'Abigail' he repeated, "what's wrong?"

Abigail didn't answer and stepped closer to Rachel instead.

Finn hesitated for a moment before trying again. 'I was hoping you could help me . . '

This time Abigail turned a little, a small frown forming over her expression at Finn's comment, 'how?' she whispered.

'Well Finn here is on his own and he was wondering if you'd go in with him . . .' he gestured towards his son who smiled shyly.

Abigail turned to Rachel who raised her eyebrow a little before speaking. 'You can't let Finn go in on his own, can you? If you go in with him and have a good day I'll get you a blueberry muffin on the way home. How about that?'

Abigail paused and considered the offer, then nodded.

'Do we have a deal?'

'Deal. she smiled and wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck for a cuddle. Rachel smiled and mouthed 'thank you' at Finn who stood up and after a kiss from Abigail Rachel did the same.

Rachel smiled when Abigail took Finn's outstretched hand and they walked into nursery together chattering in baby speak. She bit down on her bottom lip gently before turning to Finn who was standing at the side of her. 'Thank you, I didn't think she was going to go in . . .'

Finn smiled, unable to ignore the breathtakingly beautiful woman that was standing before him. He found himself wanting to reach out and tuck a stand of hair that had escaped her hair tie behind her ear and the feeling shocked him. He swallowed and replied, trying to ignore the latest thought that had popped into his mind, 'just call it the Hudson charm.'

Rachel smiled 'Finn Hudson? Nice name . . .'

He smiled 'do you have a name?'

'It'd have been pretty cruel of my mum if I didn't'

He smirked.

'Rachel . . .' She shyly informe him

'Rachel?'

Rachel hesitated for a moment; it wasn't like she could tell him the truth. She would be too easy to find then. 'Roberts . . .'

'Well Rachel Roberts, what would you say to accompanying me for a coffee?'

'It's really nice of you . . . But ur- I have some things I need to do today.'

'Surely you can spare me twenty minutes?'

Rachel hesitated for a moment; she needed a friend didn't she? She had moved to somewhere she didn't know anyone and he had helped her a considerable amount that morning with Abigail and she was grateful. She nodded 'One cup, then I have to dash.'

Finn smiled and nodded at Rachel as he turned around and walked up the street with her in the direction of a little coffee shop that he frequently visited.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thankyou for the lovely reviews, yes Finn's child is also named Finn! Sorry if that's confusing but I thought it would be cute. Please leave positive and negative reviews :) This is continuing from the previous chapter! **

"No you really don't have to Rachel. I offered to take you for coffee and that included paying for it," he smiled.

There it was again, that beautiful lopsided smile. "Thank you" Rachel mumbled shyly before picking up the cup to have a sip.

"So Rachel . . . What do you do?" Finn asked with genuine interest.

Rachel rubbed her lips together at the question as a way of delaying the answer for a moment or two. She hadn't thought of this when agreeing to go for a drink with Finn, she was going to have to make up a lie on the spot and try to keep it up. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, but the thought of him finding out about her and what she had done terrified her. This might be harder than she had originally thought. "Erm, well I've just moved here so I'm in between jobs at the moment." That wasn't technically lie, she silently reasoned with herself though was stopped in her tracks when Finn answered.

Finn nodded and the traces of a smile still remained on his lips "how old is Abigail?"

"She's two and a half. How old is Finn?"

"I'm twenty-five."

Rachel laughed quietly "you know what I meant . . ."

"He's 32 months."

"He's cute"

"He takes after his dad"

Rachel smirks "I walked right into that one . . ."

"That you did . . . Now I know you're not supposed to ask a lady this, but, how old are you?"

"How old do you think I am?"

"Urrrr"

Rachel laughed quietly and shook her head, deciding to change the subject. "What do you do?"

"I own businesses."

"Businesses, a plural? What kind?"

"A variety. I have an underwear factory not far from here, businesses in Ireland and property here and abroad."

Rachel raises her eyebrow a little. I'm so out of my league here was her first thought, "anything else?" Rachel asked, a sarcastic undertone in her voice.

"My sister owns a salon that I have a share in."

"Are you serious?"

He nods "yeah. I wasn't going to say anything, it's not really my scene."

Rachel smirked "on I don't know, I imagine you're quite vain."

"Now now Miss Roberts, behave."

Rachel smiled and cocked her head to the side slightly "if you don't like the idea of it why do you own it?"

"I bought it for my sister. So I have a 50% share in it."

"Do you usually tell strangers all about your business ventures?"

"Only ones I like."

Rachel blushed as she had another drink to try and disguise it, or take her mind off it, whatever. Compliments weren't something that she was used to receiving and she was a little unsure how to deal with them, especially when she found herself feeling a little too fond of the man sat opposite her. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was but there seemed to be something about him that made her want to spend time with him, despite having only met that morning.

Rachel finds herself leaving the coffee shop over an hour later after saying bye to Finn and it shocks her just how quickly the time has gone. After going to the shops as she as intended she arrived back at the small council house she was now living in with her daughter and sighed. The hallway had been scrubbed clean the previous day and she intended to make the best of the living room. The money that she had taken when she had run away from her husband was fast running out and it was something else that added to the list of her worries.

Shaking her head a little, trying to rid herself of the thoughts Rachel made her way into the living room and after ten minutes she had filled a bowl with cleaner and was scrubbing the floor. Once she was satisfied that it was as clean as she was going to get it she used a blanket that she had bought to cover all of the couch that was in the room. The table at the side of it was worn but stable and aside from buy a new one, which she didn't have the money for, Rachel knew there was little she could do about it.

After placing four pink rugs that she had bought onto the floor, deciding that would be Abigail's space when she was downstairs, she turned and grabbed her bag to leave the house once more and pick her daughter up from nursery. She had only been waiting outside for a moment or two when children began to make their way out and as soon as Abigail got out she ran at Rachel and wrapped her arms around her neck on getting close enough. Rachel bent down and held her around the waist, lifting her up to hold her on her hip smiling. "Hello my beautiful girl, did you have a nice day?"

Abigail nodded "we had cake and a pit with sand and water."

"Oh that sounds fun," and very messy she thought.

"We buy one?"

"I don't know sweetheart, maybe."

"I like Finn"

"Did you play together?"

Abigail nodded "he's my best friend."

"I told you you'd make friends."

"We get my muffin?"

Rachel laughs quietly at her remembering, "I thought you told me that you'd had cake?"

Abigail pouts "but you promised . . ."

"I suppose I did . . . Do you want to walk?"

She shakes her head, resting it on Rachel's shoulder.

Rachel smiles and kisses her hair gently before making her way to the shop, only to be stopped before she had gotten to the end of the path by Finn calling her name. Rachel turned around as she answered "hello, again . . ."

He smiled "Finn was wondering if Abigail would like to come to our house for her tea tomorrow?"

"Would you like that sweetheart?" Rachel questioned, her voice soft as she spoke to her daughter.

Abigail nodded "yes please . . ."

"Well then until tomorrow" Rachel smiled "bye Finn . . ." Rachel called to the toddler who waved and Finn flashed her another smile before she turned on her heel and continued on to the shop with Abigail.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter, I'm glad you're liking the plot so far! **

After dropping Abigail off at nursery that morning Rachel had gone for a job that had been advertised. It was only a cleaning job but she needed all of the money that she could get her hands on at that moment in time and couldn't afford to be picky about what she did. She made her way through town, checking her phone regularly in case she had a call coming through about it. She didn't. Rachel sighed, if she couldn't get a cleaning job she didn't hold out much hope for getting anything else and she couldn't afford waiting a long time to start earning some money.

Rachel walked into a paint shop, trying to rid herself of all of her thoughts while she concentrated on what she was doing. She was almost sure that she had aged at least ten years in the past week. Rachel had promised Abigail she would get a room of her own and though she had thought about buying a TV she hadn't wanted to break her promise. It was with that thought in mind she leant forwards and picked up the cards in the store with the different shades of pink on, flicking through them and debating for around ten minutes before finally deciding on a baby pink color.

A princess's room for her princess. Rachel smiled at the thought.

Rachel used what little money she did have to buy paint, cushions, accessories and a lamp for Abigail's room and before she knew it, it was time to collect her from nursery. Rachel was so relived that Abigail had seemed to settle into nursery after a rocky start. She knew that it was a big deal for her to start there and with all of the other changes that had happened in her life over the past week and she would have been lying if she'd said that she hadn't been apprehensive about her reaction. After quickly getting the bus she jogged up to the entrance and was relieved when she found that the children hadn't been let out yet. Rachel leaned against the wall gently and was thinking about whether she could get Abigail's room painted in a night when she felt someone stand next to her. As she turned to find out who it was she smiled automatically as Finn spoke.

"Someone's been busy . . ." he gestured to the carrier bags, mimicking how Rachel was stood by also leaning against the wall.

"Someone's daughter needs her bedroom decorating." she subtly checked her phone after answering him.

"Oh right, if you need a hand let me know . . ."

"You mean you would risk getting your designer jeans dirty"

Finn smirked "anything for you Rachel," his tone was laced with sarcasm.

"It wouldn't be for me it'd be for Abigail . . ."

Finn opened his mouth to reply but before he could get the words out the doors of the nursery opened and children slowly started to make their way out. After four children, Finn and Abigail stepped out hand in hand and walked in their direction. Rachel laughed, "I think they're getting quite fond of each other . . ."

"He's a fast learner is my son, sweet-talking the ladies already."

"Taking after his dad no doubt"

"You know me so well already"

Rachel snorted and shook her head a little "now why do I think you're exaggerating"

"I'll have you know I am quite the ladies man, but unfortunately for all you females I'm now married."

Rachel felt a stab of disappointment but she masked it quickly and answered him again, "I think I feel sorry for her, your wife."

Finn feigns shock "I'm offended . . ."

"yeah yeah" Rachel smirked and leant down to pick Abigail up as she reached her. "Hello baby . . ." she ruffled Finn's hair gently "hey pal, did you have a good day?"

Finn gives her a shy smile and nods before Finn picks him up and puts him on his shoulders, talking to Rachel while doing so. "What time do you want to pick Abigail up?"

Rachel frowned "hey?"

"I thought she was coming for her tea?"

"Oh . . . I completely forgot, erm . . ."

"Mama come?" Abigail asked and before Rachel could answer, Finn did.

"Of course she can"

Rachel shrugged gently before nodding "well I think that's that decision made" she chuckled.

"The car is just around the corner, Dom will take us back."

Rachel frowned "Dom?"

"My driver"

When Rachel arrived at Finn's house she swallowed hard, they'd had to go through electric gates just to get onto the huge drive. As she stepped inside she felt minuscule, the hallway alone was bigger than the house that she was living in. As she entered the house there was a grand staircase before her leading to a balcony before the rooms that were upstairs, though she wasn't sure how many there were she guessed it was in double figures. There were numerous rooms to either side of where the stairs were and no doubt more beyond that. Rachel silently wished that she'd had time to change, suddenly feeling very underdressed in leggings and a jumper in the house that seemed like it had just been taken from a movie scene.

Rachel jumped when her thoughts were interrupted by a lady speaking, she must have only been about 25 and at first Rachel thought that she was Finn's wife. She had long chocolate brown hair that flowed in curls down her back and a warm smile. She seemed nice, friendly, though Rachel knew all too well that appearances could be deceiving, very deceiving.

"Rachel this is April, our cleaner, cook and nanny. She's a woman of many talents."

April quietly laughed, "oh stop" she shook her head at Finn who smiled "it's nice to meet you Rachel"

Rachel returned the smile and nodded "you too" she answered politely, confused at the feeling of relief that washed over her when April turned out to be someone who worked for Finn and not who he was married to.

"This is Abigail" Finn smiled, gesturing to the toddler who was stood by Rachel with one arm wrapped around her leg half hiding.

"Hello Abigail" April smiled "I like your hair band"

Abigail smiled shyly "hi"

Finn smiled at the exchange before interrupting "Rachel and Abigail have come for their tea"

"What would you like? I'll get onto it"

Finn shook his head "I was thinking we could order pizza, some drinks would be nice though."

April nodded and left and Finn stepped a little closer to Rachel with a smile. That smile . . . Rachel silently told herself off for her thoughts and tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

"You do like pizza don't you?"

Rachel laughed quietly and nodded "yeah pizza is fine Finn . . ."

"What toppings would you like?"

"A plain one please, Abigail won't eat it if there's any kind of peppers or anything on there."

"What would you like?"

"I'll just share her's"

"Don't be daft"

Rachel sighed "pepperoni then"

Rachel ran her hand over Abigail's hair gently as Finn encouraged her to go through into the playroom with his son and when Finn held his hand out she took it and followed him. When they disappeared into one of the rooms and Abigail's excited squeal sounded into the hall seconds after she'd stepped inside, Rachel guessed it was as grand as the house Finn lived in though she wouldn't have expected it to be anything else. Her thoughts were interrupted once more when Finn spoke.

"Do you want to go and sit in there" he gestured with his hand to a room to her right "I'll just go and tell April what we want and get the drinks."

Rachel nodded and walked into the room Finn had gestured to as he went into the kitchen. The gasp that escaped her lips was out before she could stop it at the room she now found herself in. The house she had lived in before running away had been big and she'd thought of that as some sort of palace, but it was nothing compared to the house she was in at that moment in time. Could it even be called a house? Mansion seemed more appropriate.

The room was huge and painted in cream with a large window on the bottom wall. There was a large L shaped red couch and the wall opposite it was a bold red color too with a very large TV in the centre. Underneath the TV there was a top of the range CD player and Rachel found herself idly wondering what kind of music Finn liked. Rachel stepped back out of the room and took her shoes off before entering once again and venturing further inside this time. The carpet was as she expected, luxurious and thick, one that allowed your feet to sink right into it as you walked. She made her way over to the couch and sat down, fairly sure that what it had cost to decorate the room would be enough for her to decorate the whole house that she was living in.

Finn walked into the room with a glass in each hand and sat down beside Rachel on reaching the couch. "Red wine" he smiled and handed her a glass, "I hope you like it"

Rachel nodded her answer "how are Abigail and Finn getting on?"

"They seemed to be having fun when I took them drinks in"

"She isn't going to want to come home."

"Well she can come here anytime she likes she's lovely . . . Like her mum"

Rachel laughed a nervous laugh before raising the glass Finn had brought her to her lips to have a sip. "Your home is gorgeous"

"Thank you" Finn smiled

"Where's you're wife?"

Finn's smile fell a little and but he hid it was best as he could while he answered "she's shopping in New York this week and she was with her parents a week before that."

"Oh she has expensive taste then, I couldn't imagine leaving Abigail for two weeks I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Finn laughed and nodded in agreement, frowning when Rachel checked her phone once again. "My company isn't that bad is it?"

Rachel frowned "what do you mean?"

"Are you waiting for a get out call?" he raised his eyebrow a little, teasing her.

Rachel laughed "you're not quite that bad Finn . . . I was waiting for a call, just not a call that gets me out of here"

"Oh I am honored"

"You should be" she teased.

"So if it's not a get out call what kind of call is it?"

"I went for a job this morning and they told me they were going to call me to let me know whether I'd got it or not. It doesn't seem too likely now does it?" she sighed.

"What kind of job was it?"

"A cleaning job . . ." Rachel mumbled, feeling herself blush at admitting it. She was embarrassed but she knew she couldn't afford to be, not when it wasn't just herself that she had to think about.

Finn frowned and shook his head a little, and though he hadn't known Rachel long he felt like he wanted to help her and the thought of her stuck cleaning getting peanuts wasn't something that he welcomed. "Sod them I know of a job that'll be better work than cleaning and will pay more"

"You do?"

He nodded "an office job"

"I've never worked in an office before, I don't think I'd have much of a chance . . ."

Finn grinned, "I think you do . . ."

"What are you smiling at me like that for?"

"I need someone to work in the office of my factory, the woman in charge is trying to do two people's jobs and I was going to start advertising but . . . I think I've found my perfect woman."

Rachel's breath hitched at his words and she silently wondered whether he had chose them for more than one reason though quickly dismissed it. No, he was happily married and she needed to stop with those kind of thoughts. "Finn, I don't think it would be such a good idea . . . I wouldn't know what I was doing and it sounds like you need someone who can go in and get on with things straight away."

"But with a teacher like me I don't think it'd be long before you were all but running the place"

"You'd teach me?"

He nodded, a mischievous grin forming over his lips. "Yep"

His smile . . . I wish he'd stop doing that Rachel thought, despite knowing she would be disappointed if he did. After losing her train of thought once more Rachel found herself just smiling back at him like an idiot.

"So what do you say?"

She nodded "I say, let's give it a try."

Finn smiled and raised his glass to clink with hers and after doing so they both had a mouthful, small smiles playing on both of their lips as they drank.

After having their pizza and staying a little longer than intended, Rachel wrapped her arm around Abigail once her coat and her shoes were on. "Say thank you to Finn for letting you come to play"

"Thank you" Abigail repeated as Rachel put her boots on while she turned and gave little Finn a cuddle, "bye bye."

Rachel picked Abigail up after putting her jacket on and held her on her hip. "Thanks for tonight Finn . . ."

"You're welcome, Dom is going to take you home."

"Oh no really, it's fine."

"It's none negotiable Rachel . . ."

She laughed a little and nodded "fine . . ."

Rachel had been about to leave when Finn placed his hand on her arm and kissed her on the cheek. "This is our last conversation before you have to start calling me boss . . . Night night Rachel."

"In your dreams, Finn." she smirked before going to get into the brand new Mercedes with Abigail. When Dom got into the front and asked her where she wanted to go, she knew she couldn't really tell him where she lived. Finn associating with someone who lived on a scruffy council estate wasn't something she could imagine and thought that if he found out where she was really living he would cut all contact, and it was a thought which effected her more than she cared to admit. "Can you just drop me off at the shop on the corner by the nursery please? I need to pick up a couple of things . . ."

"Of course Miss."


	4. Chapter 4

**Enjoy this chapter, it's a little rushed because I'm in Europe but please review :)**

The next morning Rachel had gotten up early and had all of her clothes out of her bag trying to decide what to wear. Eventually she had decided on a high waisted black skirt teamed with a white shirt with long chiffon sleeves tucked into it. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and put on some make-up before waking Abigail to get ready.

After making their way to the nursery Rachel said bye to Abigail and let her run inside. Almost as soon as Abigail had ran off Finn was stood to the side of her, "nice outfit"

"Thanks boss"

Finn smirked "you're full of surprises Miss Roberts . . . I thought you told me you'd only say that in my dreams?"

Rachel shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips as Finn waited for her answer.

When one didn't come he placed his arm around her shoulders and led her to the Merc that was parked only a couple of steps away from where they were standing, "come on we have a lot to get though today . . ."

On getting into the car, Rachel bit down on her bottom lip gently, which told Finn that she was unsure before she spoke. "Finn, what are the hours of this job?"

"Usually it's 9-5 but it can vary depending on how much or how little we need to do . . . If you're worrying about Abigail, don't."

Rachel frowned, momentarily silent as he had known what she was thinking about, "she gets out of nursery at half two . . ."

"You should have enough money to get a child minder for her and if you don't she can come to ours and play with Finn for a couple of hours while April is minding Finn"

"You've already given me a job Finn I can't expect your nanny to take care of my daughter too."

"Listen, this week you can leave to pick her up yeah? Then at the end of the week if you think you want to stay on we'll try and sort something out."

Rachel offered a small smile "thank you . . ." she mumbled, knowing that a mere thank you wasn't enough given how much he had helped her out over the past couple of days.

"You're welcome" Finn told her before flashing a winning smile.

Ten minutes later and Rachel found herself in the office of Finn's factory Underworld. The buzz of machines sounded through the factory and the murmur of voices as the people who worked there chattered. On getting into the office Rachel had been introduced to Hayley Cropper who seemed very friendly and who was the person Finn had told her about who was doing two jobs on her own. He had let her know that the work she would need to do would be to file what was in the office, chase up payments, organize his meetings and the like. Hayley would be there to help her but he wanted her to deal with the people who worked for him, check they were on time with orders and that they were correct before they got sent away to the buyer. Hayley had gone to make the both of them a coffee after Finn had asked and when the door closed behind her Finn gestured to one of the desks in the office. "This will be your desk . . . Sit" he smiled.

Rachel walked around to sit down on the black leather chair, the sound of her heels against the factory floor seeming much louder in the office than they had when she'd first entered.

Finn took the chair from the other desk in the office that was in front of Rachel's and to the right had side, moving it around so he was sitting beside her. Rachel crossed one leg over the other and Finn leaned over her to turn the computer on. There was that smell again, Rachel thought, just as divine as the day they'd first met and he'd taken her to the coffee shop. When the computer had loaded up Finn leaned in to show Rachel as he spoke.

"So the first thing is your e-mail, I've made you one and logged in on here. E-mail and the phone will be the ways that clients and I will be able to contact you so all you have to do to get it on is click the start button and go to it yeah?"

Rachel nodded "yeah I think I can get that"

"The spreadsheets that you might need are in documents, the diary with all my meeting's is on the table and you must write them in as they come so you can let me know before you leave here at night what I have on the following day. . ." He paused for a moment and once Rachel had nodded he continued, making sure that she was keeping up with what he was saying. "There is a folder for all of the details of the orders we have on but if you want to know anything about them just ask Hayley, she knows them all like the back of her hand."

Rachel smiled and turned a little as Hayley walked back into the office as if on cue. "Here are your coffee's" she chimed.

"Thanks Hayles" Finn smiled before answering his phone as it rang.

Rachel mouthed a "thank you" to Hayley who smiled before leaving the office once more and Rachel waited for Finn to finish his phone call before she said anything else.

When Hayley left the factory she was called over by the group of people that had gathered in the corner of the factory, all drinking coffee and sharing biscuits. "What's going on?" Sean questioned.

"Yeah, who's Finn's new bird?" a brassy blonde chipped in, a smile across her lips at the prospect of some juicy gossip.

"Beth" Fiz snapped, pushing her mane of ginger curls back with her hand "I don't think Maria would appreciate you saying things like that"

"Well Maria isn't here is she?" Beth retorted.

"Oh shut up you two" Sally scalded before turning to Hayley "has she got the job or what?"

Hayley sighed, she hated being involved in the works gossip but often found herself with very little choice. "I think so but if you want to know for sure you'll have to ask Mr Connor."

Sally tutted, her annoyance apparent as she spoke "I've worked my way up to that job and she thinks she can just come in here and take it from me."

Sean snorted, "she didn't think she could Sal, she pretty much has"

Hayley disguised a small smile at Sean's comment to Sally although it fell when Fiz spoke up. "Well you weren't the one who was all but promised that job Sally I was going to put money away for Hope's future with the extra, Maria knows how much I need it and she told me I should be swapping jobs by the time she gets back."

"Well things must have changed . . . Now can you all just go back to work and get on with this order it needs to be finished tomorrow."

"You can tell what she is a mile off . . ." Sally thought aloud, her attention in the direction of the office where Rachel was sitting, as she spoke.

"What's that then?" Sean questioned.

"A cheap little tart."

Beth laughed "I bet she's paid him for this job . . . In kind"

The laughter was cut short when Finn spoke up from behind where the group had gathered. "Something funny?" He questioned, "care to let me in on the joke?"

Hayley paled a little and when no one answered Finn snapped, his voice a little louder this time. "Well?"

"No Mr Connor" Sally mumbled

"Good, now get back to work."

Finn left the factory and Hayley made her way back onto the factory floor with the others following her to make their way back to their machines.

In the office Rachel stopped working on the spreadsheet that Finn had asked her to start that day to open up an e-mail to send to him. It took her a couple of moments but she soon worked out what she was doing and smiled as she typed one out, almost immediately getting one back from him.

"21 . . ."

"What's that? How many times you've thought of me since I've been gone?"

"No you clown, my age. You asked me last night . . ."

"I thought it was a touchy subject when you changed the conversation"

Rachel hesitated before replying, he was right. It was a touchy subject. The reason she hadn't wanted to tell Finn how old she was, was by doing so he would work out that she was only 18 when she'd had Abigail and the last thing that she wanted him to think of her was that she was someone who had gone sleeping around and got caught out pregnant. "Well you know now . . ."

"Yeah I do and you're not that old"

"Take the second last word out of that sentence"

"I'm your boss. I should be telling you what to do"

"You'd need to grow a pair first . . ."

Finn laughed "as much as I would like to continue this conversation I have a meeting I'm due in and if I'm not mistaken I left you with some work to do. Ask Hayley if you need any help."

"I will, have a good meeting."

Rachel let a small smile lass her lips and closed the e-mail programme before continuing with the spreadsheet she had previously been working on.

Two hours later after his meeting Finn headed back to the house in rather good spirits after being told the factory was doing well. Silently he wondered how Rachel was getting on and made a mental note to remember to e-mail her on getting back to check. Deep down Finn knew that he was fonder of Rachel than he should be given the amount of time that they'd known each other but he hadn't properly acknowledged that to himself just yet. On stepping into the house he smiled and went into the kitchen to get himself a chilled glass of orange. It was mere moments after doing this that the front door opened once more and Finn's wife's voice sounded throughout the house "bring my bags in Dom"

Finn frowned and put the glass of orange down on the side before walking out of the kitchen and into the hall to greet her "Maria, I wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow?"

"We got an earlier flight"

"Did you have a nice time?"

She nodded "yes it was lovely"

He frowned at her short responses "is there something wrong?"

"There wasn't, until I received a phone call from Fiz telling me that you had given someone else the job I'd promised her."

"It wasn't your place to promise her"

"She's my best friend"

"It's my business, Maria"

"I'm your wife Finn and that means it's my business too"

"Maria, I am not discussing this anymore, the job has gone and Fiz is getting more than enough on the wage that she's on. If I'd have given her the job I'd have still needed to advertise for hers so I wasn't gaining anything."

"What are you gaining then?"

"An office manager."

"Who is it?"

"A friend . . ."

"A female friend?"

Finn nodded "why is this relevant?"

"Does she know what she's doing?"

He sighed "Maria you're 25, please stop acting like a child. You should be glad that I've found someone so easily."

"Well I'm not" she snapped, her voice slightly louder than it had been. Once she had finished her answer she turned on her heel and stormed down the hall and upstairs, leaving Finn shaking his head.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thankyou again for the lovely feeback :) Some of you have observed I have used names such as 'Haley Cropper' from a British Soap, Coronation Street. I'm not from Britain, I'm American but I'm in Europe and I've been watching alot of soaps, I wasn't sure weather I should name them after glee characters but I didn't. I hope you understand the meanings behind the names, Enjoy and review - purifiedgleek**

Hayley was in the middle of checking a box of stock before it was put out ready to be dispatched and taken to the buyer when a panicked squeak came from the office. She frowned and put down the pen and clipboard that she had been using before dashing through to find out what was going on. As she entered the office she found Rachel sitting at the desk, her hair pushed back with one hand wearing a worried expression. "Rachel what's wrong?"

"It's gone . . ."

"What has?"

"The spreadsheet, it's just gone"

Hayley frowned and moved around the desk to find that the computer was restarting "I think it must be doing some updates" she sighed "did you save it?"

Rachel shook her head "it took me all morning to do that"

"Don't worry, jut try and get it finished before you leave tonight. Remember to press control and S regularly so that if this happens again, you shouldn't lose too much of your work."

Rachel nodded and gave a small smile "thanks Hayley"

"Do you want to come with us for your dinner?"

Rachel shook her head "I think I'd better stay here and get this finished, thank you for the offer though . . ."

"Would you like me to bring you over something to eat?"

"No thanks"

"You can't not eat Rachel, how about I get my Roy to make you up a nice sandwich hey?"

Rachel laughed quietly and nodded "thank you"

Hayley smiled before leaving the office and then the factory, following the others out for dinner. Rachel couldn't help but think about how friendly she was, she made up for all of the others being pretty hostile towards her, although she wasn't quite sure why. Rachel hadn't been in the office on her own long when the door opened and at first she thought it might have been Hayley again but was met with someone she didn't recognize. In the doorway of the office stood a slim woman who had brown hair that was softly curled and highlighted with blonde. She was quite pretty, Rachel thought and when she stood up from her chair it became apparent that she was a little taller than the female opposite her. Rachel offered a small smile and stepped out from behind her desk as she spoke. "Hi can I help you?" she silently tried to remember the diary for that morning, although she was fairly sure they weren't expecting any visitors.

"Yeah, yeah I think you can" she stepped into the office a little further and closed the door behind her.

Rachel frowned in confusion "do I know you?"

She shook her head "no you don't, but I know you"

Rachel swallowed hard "how?" she asked, her voice sounding much steadier than she felt inside.

"Care to tell me how you got this job?"

Rachel raised her eyebrow a little "I don't know why that has anything to do with you."

"I'm Maria Connor, Finn's wife."

She is his wife Rachel thought. Crap. "If you want Finn he's in a meeting . . ."

"Oh I know, I've come to speak to you."

Rachel raised her eyebrow a little "urr why?"

"Well I don't know if you're aware of this or not but you have taken a job that was for someone else . . ." Maria started "and there has been a mix up so I'm giving you the opportunity to walk out now."

"If I don't?"

"You'll wish you had . . ."

"Listen love, Finn employed me and if something has happened which means he wants someone else in this job then I think I'll wait and let him tell me."

"don't take me on Rachel and don't think that you're anything special to Finn either, I know what you are . . ."

Rachel raised her eyebrow a little and Maria continued.

"A little slapper from the wrong side of the tracks who's flirted a way into a job she hasn't got the first idea how to do."

Rachel scoffed, shaking her head a little "and do you want to know what you are?" Where are those staplers that fire them out, she thought, one could come in pretty useful right now.

"Enlighten me . . ."

"Someone who thinks that having a bit of money makes them above everyone, someone who has never had to do a day's work in their life and thinks that by telling someone what you want will get you it. Now I'm not to blame for this misunderstanding so if you have anything else to say on the matter then take it up with Finn. Now if you don't mind, I have work to be getting on with," she snapped.

"You'll regret this Rachel"

Rachel stood her ground and just raised her eyebrow as Maria turned and left the factory, after she had gone she shook her head a little and silently wondered whether Finn had known that she was going to pay her a visit or not. If she had to guess she would have said that he didn't know, but she was furious and he was the only person that she could think of to take it out on. When the main door slammed closed Rachel walked around to sit down at her desk and started her e-mail programme up before typing a message out to Finn, hitting the keys a little harder than was necessary as she did.

"Thanks for letting me know that your wife was going to come around today and kick off. I suggest you get her back on her lead; I came here to work, not to take abuse from anyone who wants to come in and give it to me. You're you of order and so is she, keep your domestics to yourself and if you want me to carry on working here you better get this little mess cleaned up.

Oh, and I'm knocking off early."

After typing the e-mail she hit send and closed down the computer before picking up her bag and her jacket. After she had shrugged it on she left the factory and headed to the nursery to pick Abigial up a little earlier than she usually would have. She was still furious after what had happened with Maria but as there was little she could do about it she decided to spend the rest of the afternoon and the night with her daughter. On getting out of the factory Rachel walked to the bus stop and sighed quietly when she reached into her purse to get the fare out for the bus, only to find that she had 40p and a couple of coppers. Until she was paid, given that she still had a job, that was all she had to live on, Rachel swallowed back her emotions and turned on her heel to walk to the nursery, even though it would add an extra 20 minutes to her journey.

When Rachel finally arrived at the nursery she entered the building and after telling the person that was in charge Abigial needed to be out early for an appointment they went to get her. She smiled when her daughter ran up the corridor to her holding her arms out, "mama"

"Hey baby" Rachel picked her up and spun her around, which issued a fit of giggles from the toddler.

"Miss you mama"

Rachel smiled, all of the worries of the day forgotten as she had Abigial back in her arms. "I missed you too," she settled her on her hip and said a polite bye to the woman who worked there that she'd spoken to before leaving the nursery and walking in the direction of her house.

"Made you dis" Abigial waved a piece of paper at Rachel as she spoke using one hand while wrapping the other around her neck.

"Oh really? What's this?" Rachel smiled, taking the paper from her to find a painting with two people on which she guessed were the two of them. "Oh clever girl, I think we're going to have to stick this up when we get in. What do you think?"

Abigial nodded "I choose?"

Rachel smiled and nodded "of course you can darlin'"

Once they got back to the house, Rachel put Abigial down and her bag for nursery to one side. "Let's get you something to eat yeah?"

Abigial nodded before racing off into the house and Rachel wandered thorough into the kitchen. On opening the cupboards she sighed, there was two slices of bread and one egg in and she had no money to buy anything else. Rachel ran her tongue over her teeth, swallowing hard before she turned around and began making the egg for Abigial so that she could have it with soldiers. Her stomach rumbled and she knew having nothing for her dinner wouldn't have helped the situation but she knew there was no contest in feeding herself or her daughter. Rachel put the water into a pan to boil and she frowned at the quiet of the house. "Abigial?" she called and on getting no answer she stepped out of the kitchen and frowned when she found her kneeling on the pink mats in the living room. "What are you doing?"

"Drawing . . ."

"Give me that"

"My pen"

"It's not you're pen it's my lip liner"

"Lips"

Rachel nodded and held her hand out, Abigial hesitated for a moment before giving the liner to Rachel.

"Thank you" she picked Abigial back up and walked through into the kitchen "come on let's get you something to eat."

Ten minutes later and Rachel was sitting at the table in the kitchen with Abigial who was tucking into her tea, Rachel had her arms wrapped gently around her waist as she waited for her to finish. "Are we going to get you in the bath after you've had this?"

Abigial nodded and offered Rachel a piece of toast though she shook her head "no thank you baby, you eat it"

"Mama no hungry?"

Rachel smiled and shook her head "I've had my tea"

"When?"

"Earlier . . ."

Abigial nodded and it was only a couple of moments later when she spoke again "finished" she stated and Rachel smiled before nodding and proceeding to take Abigial upstairs. "Bath now yeah"

Abigial nodded "where my toys?"

"In my bedroom on the bed, are you going to go and get them?"

Abigial nodded and raced off into the bedroom Rachel used while she leaned over to turn the taps on so the water began to slowly fill the bath. When Abigial re-entered the bathroom and fell into Rachel's lap she laughed. "Whoa speedy, what's the hurry?"

"I get in?"

Rachel smiled and after undressing her she turned tap off and checked the water wasn't to hot before lifting Abigial to put her into the bath. As soon as she was in the water and Rachel had passed her the yellow rubber duck and the pale pink octopus she played with she began splashing water all over while she played.

Rachel talked to her while she was in the bath, getting soaked in the process. Once she'd washed her hair and lifted her out, Rachel dried her and changed her into a clean set of pajamas before telling her a story once she was in bed. After waiting until she was settled Rachel got a bath herself and on getting out she changed and dried her hair before sitting on the side of the bed. She sighed quietly and ran her hand over Abigial's hair gently. She found herself wondering what Finn had thought when he'd gotten her e-mail earlier that day though shook the thoughts away as soon as she could. She couldn't go there, there were so many other things she needed to worry about.

Rachel curled up in bed and wrapped her arms around her daughter to hold her close as she breathed in her scent and tried to settle herself. She jumped when the message tone from her phone sounded through the room and she sat up, leaning over to pick it up although when she did and she opened the text she wished she never had.

"It's only a matter of time before I find you Rachel and when I do I will make sure you wish you had never stepped foot out of the house."

Rachel took the sim card out of the phone with shaking hands and managed to snap it, dropping the phone onto the floor while desperately hoping she would never be found. Her hold on Abigial got a little tighter as a stray tear dripped down her cheek.


	6. Chapter 6

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, I appreciate negative and positive reviews. **

Rachel laid on the white couch with her daughter and sighed quietly, she had been ill for a couple of days and all she'd been given by the doctor was some medicine, saying that they needed to let the bug run it's course. Abigail was sitting in Rachel's lap as she ran her hand over her back gently, her crying had just ceased and her cheeks were still damp with tears. Rachel passed Abigail a dummy gently which she immediately took from her "shall we take you to bed hey?" Rachel whispered, kissing the side of her daughter's head as she ran her hand over her curls.

"We still have snuggles?" Abigail questioned through the dummy she was using, though Rachel understood what she was saying to her having gotten used to her own little baby language.

Rachel nodded "if you want to . . ."

"Carry" Abigail stated and Rachel nodded as she wrapped her arms around her back and under her bum while Abigail nuzzled into her neck.

Rachel was curled up in bed with Abigail who had nestled into her as she ran her hand up and down her back she was glad that it was slowly helping her to drop off. She knew that if Abigail was tired there was even less chance she would feel better the following day so she hoped that that night would be better than the previous one.

Rachel had jut started to drop off herself when she felt a cold hand trail up her leg and underneath the night dress that she was wearing. She turned around and as soon as she did Brody's lips were on her's, his tongue invading her mouth. She could smell the Whiskey and taste the cigarettes on him and it made her want to vomit. It was seconds before she pulled away and spoke in nothing above a whisper, desperately hoping that he wouldn't kick off. "Stop . . . In case she wakes up."

"Come into our room"

"Brody, she isn't well"

He tutted "oh there's nothing wrong with her, you're overreacting."

"Like you would know" Rachel snapped "you've never been interested in her, she's not a boy so you're not bothered. You never were even before I had her; all you care about is going around with your mates down the pub playing the big man. Some man, you don't even care about your own child." When Brody reached out and grabbed the side of her chin so hard she was sure there was a bruise there immediately regretted her outburst, he just made her so mad.

"You better be back in that bedroom in 5 minutes" he hissed, pushing her head back before leaving.

Shit, Rachel thought why couldn't I have just kept my thoughts to myself. She bit down on her lip gently and moved to get out of the bed when Abigail stirred and whimpered as she began to get up. "Mama you leave me?"

Rachel swallowed hard "of course not baby"

"Snuggles?"

Rachel nodded and kissed Abigail gently before curling up with her in the bed once more. She knew that as angry as Brody would be that she hadn't gone into the bedroom as he had instructed, she couldn't leave Abigail. "I always want snuggles with you" she whispered.

"always always?"

Rachel nodded "does your tummy still hurt?"

Abigail nodded "make it stop mama"

"I'm trying sweetheart" Rachel moved her hand to rub Abigail's back in a soothing manner and around 20 minutes later she was settled back in the bed, a little more soundly this time. Rachel got up and swallowed hard, stepping out of the bedroom and onto the landing and she slipped past the bedroom she shared with Brody to dash to the stairs but he grabbed her around the waist before she could make it down them. Brody pulled her sideways into the bedroom and closed the door heavily as Rachel found herself utterly panic stricken. He lashed out and hit her hard and in seconds Rachel found herself on the floor with her lip bleeding. "Brody . . . Please, she was upset . . ."

"Did you really think I was just going to let that go? You speaking to me like I'm nothing?" he raged.

Rachel frantically shook her head "no . . . I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean it . . ."

Brody laughed; "of course you didn't" he moved to hold the hair at the back of her head while pulling her up to her feet.

Before Rachel could get her balance Brody pushed her back against the bed and she found him laying over her. "I'm sorry . . . Really . . . Please, just . . . Let go . . ." Rachel stuttered in a whisper, her voice raw with emotion.

"You are mine Rachel and I think you need reminding of that . . ."

Rachel sat up sharply in a cold sweat; she pushed her hair back with her hand gently as an overwhelming feeling of nausea came over her. She jumped up and dashed into the bathroom before throwing up violently into the toilet. Rachel couldn't even go back to thinking about what had happened after her nightmare had ended but she was so glad that she had gotten out when she had. Rachel checked that Abigail was still settled in bed and made sure the stair gate was on before she got a shower.

It wasn't long before Rachel wandered back into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, her hair was wet but she knew she had more than enough time to get ready. She bit down on her bottom lip gently and sat down on the bed. She leant forward a little, her arms in her lap as she thought back to the nightmare she'd endured that morning and felt an urge to cry. Which she did. Rachel wasn't sure how long she had been crying for but she was pulled from her thoughts and her emotions when she felt tiny hands against her back. "Mama? Why you cry?"

Rachel shook her head a little and sniffed quietly "I'm not baby, I've just had a shower"

Abigail tried to climb into Rachel's lap and wobbled a little as she did so "all clean?"

Rachel laughed quietly and nodded as she wrapped her arm around Abigail's waist as she stood on her lap. She smiled when Abigail put her hands on the back of her head and pulled her close so that her cheek was against her chest and tummy, mimicking what Rachel did when she was upset. "Hair's wet mama"

"I know baby" Rachel whispered, surprised at just how quickly things could be put to one side by spending a couple of precious moments with her daughter.

"I dry it?"

"I want a kiss" Rachel smiled as she lay back against the bed and brought Abigail with her so that she was laid against her chest.

Abigail chuckled and placed her hands either side of Rachel's cheeks as she pushed them together gently before pouting her own lips to mimic how Rachel's were "you like dis"

Rachel laughed and moved Abigail's hands before kissing her once. "Right come on Mrs, we need to get you ready for nursery."

"I stay here?"

Rachel shook her head "not today darlin'"

Rachel had dropped Abigail off at nursery a little later than usual after having to scrimp though her purse to get together 40p for some sweets for her which she guessed would be her breakfast, though she wouldn't have encouraged it she didn't have anything else. After the day before and what had happened at Underworld she guessed she wouldn't be welcome back and she was just thinking about going to try and find another job when a hand held her arm gently. "You're not avoiding me by any chance are you?"

Rachel bit down in her bottom lip gently when she turned to find Finn and she swallowed hard "don't flatter yourself," she turned to walk away but was stopped when Finn tentatively reached out to take her hand and she felt a spark run through her that she'd never felt before. After a second or two she moved her hand and shook her head a little. "What? Did you want something else?"

"Hey don't be like this with me, I waited here to talk to you . . ."

"I don't want to talk to you"

"You should be at work"

"I'm not going in, have you not worked that one out yet genius?"

"Genius?"

"You're the one who owns all of the business aren't you?"

"Come for a coffee and talk?"

"That's what got me into this mess to begin with"

Finn pouted, "don't make me beg Rachel . . ."

She couldn't help the smirk that passed her lips in response to what Finn had said. "Oh . . . I think I might enjoy it"

"Fine . . . Please come for a coffee with me . . ."

"That's not proper begging . . ."

"That's as much begging as you're going to get now come on."

Rachel sat in the coffee shop, at the same table she'd sat at the first day she'd met Finn and she couldn't help thinking that it felt like she'd known him much longer than she really had. Once again she was pulled from her thoughts by Finn speaking. "Penny for them . . ."

"Huh?"

"Your thoughts . . ."

"Oh . . . I was just thinking about this really irritating guy I met recently"

"Oh really, how irritating?"

Rachel smirked "I'd say very . . . He just won't leave me alone"

"Maybe you just have a natural charm that makes him want to come back for more"

"More of what?"

Finn smirked himself "what are you offering?"

Rachel tilted her head to the side a little as she raised an eyebrow "cheeky"

"Always" he smiled and Rachel was powerless to stop herself from smiling back at him.

"Come back to work Rachel . . ."

"Finn, I didn't take that job on to get a load of abuse thrown at me, I thought I was doing you a favour as much as you were doing me one but you failed to mention that I'd stolen someone's job. Now, while I don't make a habit of being told what to do by overgrown schoolgirls I know I wouldn't be very happy if my job was taken from me . . ."

Finn smirked "overgrown schoolgirls?"

Rachel nodded "I suppose it suits her really"

"Why's that?"

"She seems to act like she's in a playground . . ."

Finn smirked and had a drink of his coffee to disguise it, changing the subject of the conversation completely when he spoke again. "Maria decided she wanted to give that job to someone else and it wasn't her decision to make. Now I have spoken to her and I've made sure that she doesn't even think about repeating what she did yesterday . . . So will you come back?"

"I drive a very hard bargain Mr. Connor . . ."

"If you come back I will take you and Abigail out, my treat?"

Rachel pretended to consider the offer for a couple of moments before nodding "alright . . . But I want one more thing . . ."

"Oh?"

"An advance on my wages this week?"

"You're right, you do drive a hard bargain Miss R" he grinned "but as it's you I think I can sort something out"

Rachel smiled and nodded "so as of now technically I'm skiving?"

"You were skiving all morning"

"How? I might not have come back . . ."

"I'd have agreed to almost anything to make sure that you did . . ."

Rachel gave a wicked laugh "oh I wish I'd have known before we began these negotiations"

"I don't think I want to know why"

Rachel laughed again before having another mouthful of coffee.

"I'll give you a lift back to work and then meet you back at the nursery when you pick Abigail up?"

Rachel nodded "yeah sure"

As they made their way to the car that Finn's driver was waiting in he spoke to her once more. "One more thing I needed to ask you . . ."

"Oh what's that then?" she got into the car and Finn sat down beside her.

"What's your number?"

Rachel frowned "why?"

"Well . . ." he put his seatbelt on and continued "when members of my workforce send e-mails to me in which they are furious, and I have no way of getting hold of them when after the knock off early, it's very annoying." Finn smirked when Rachel blushed.

"Thinking about me all night were you?" Rachel teased, her voice considerably quieter as it wasn't just the two of them in the car.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know" he smiled and Rachel bit down on her lip as she shook her head at him, "well your phone number?"

"I don't have one?"

Finn frowned "you do, you had one when you were around mine while you were waiting for the call about a job?"

Rachel nodded "I know . . . It's broken"

"Oh right . . . Well I suppose you can't give me a number you don't have."

"That's true"

"Are you going to get another?"

"I don't know, not anytime soon unless I get given one"

When they arrived at the factory, Rachel got out and headed into the office on her own as Finn had another meeting he needed to get to and she had only been in there a moment when the people who worked on the machines gathered in a group where they spent their coffee breaks and she couldn't help wondering if they were talking about her. She guessed they probably were. Rachel turned on the computer after sitting down behind her desk and as she opened up her e-mail inbox she bit down on the inside of her mouth when there was an e-mail there from Finn which she thought he had probably sent only minutes after receiving hers the day before.

"I don't know what you're talking about or what has happened, just wait there and I'll come over as soon as I can x"

A kiss, there was a kiss Rachel thought and a smile spread over her lips at it. She silently wondered whether it had been automatic but quickly shook that thought away, he hadn't put kisses in the other e-mails . . .

When the door opened Rachel snapped out of what she was thinking and frowned when she found Dom standing opposite her. He must have only dropped her off 20 minutes ago. She gave a small smile "Hi Dom, did I forget something?"

Dom shook his head "no, I've just been told to drop this off for you"

Rachel frowned as she was handed a box with a red ribbon tied in a bow around it. "I don't understand . . ."

"Open it, you will . . . It's from Mr. Connor . . ."

Rachel hesitated for a moment, her apprehension apparent as she undid the ribbon and opened the box to reveal a top of the range mobile phone. "I can't accept this . . . Please take it back and tell him that . . ."

"I can't do that Miss, I've been instructed by Mr Connor to make sure that you keep it"

Rachel sighed before nodding she knew there was little she could do now and decided to take her issue up with Finn. "Thanks Dom . . ."

He smiled and nodded before leaving and as soon as he had gone Rachel was on the computer typing out an e-mail to Finn.

"What are you playing at? Those phones cost a fortune; you didn't need to buy me one. If you meant what you had said about what happened yesterday not happening again then you have no reason to get in touch with me apart from when I'm at work do you? You need to take it back."

Rachel frowned when moments later the box to the side of her on the desk buzzed. She removed the lid and found the screen of the phone had lit up with a message. "Your wish is my command sweetheart"

Rachel frowned and after a moment replied to him. "What do you mean, I didn't ask you to get me a phone"

"You hinted at it this morning in the car . . ."

"Oh no no, you're not doing that, I was just talking."

"Well it doesn't matter now it's non refundable."

"More fool you for buying it"

"Just think of it as your work phone if it makes you feel better. Besides, you can't go without one really."

"Why's that, in case you are thinking about me on a lonely night again"

"I don't have to be lonely to think about you, Rachel"

She swallowed and a moment later another reply came through. "I have to go into a meeting, accept the phone before I go please or you might have me so distracted about the money I've wasted on it that I lose a whole lot more through not being able to think about other things . . ."

"Oh well, how could I refuse now."

Finn smirked "thank you x"

Rachel smiled, another kiss. She sat back in the chair a little and went into the phone to edit the name that Finn had saved himself under, which was "your favorite man". However, as her finger hovered over the delete button she decided against it. Why change it? It was true, he was her favorite man.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! I might go on a break from this fanfiction as I'm in Europe for only two more weeks and I'd rather be having some family**  
**time and going on activites then writing :) Let me know what you want? Also using 'Coronation Street' names have been creating some confusion seeming Rachel and Finn are American, I only got this idea seeming I'm on Holiday and all there is on TV is British Soaps. Please review and tell me whether you think I should continue writing this fic? **

Rachel spent the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon in work, though when it reached two o clock she left and went to the nursery to pick Abigail up. Rachel had just lifted Abigail to hold on her hip when Finn walked over to her. She smiled, remembering their earlier text conversation over text on the new phone he had bought for her. "Hello"

Rachel smiled "hi . . ."

"Have you decided on what you want to do?"

Rachel shook her head "no have you thought of anything?"

Finn shook his head before speaking again, though this time his question was aimed at little Finn and Abigail. "Where would you two like to go?"

Abigail hesitated for a moment before she answered him "we go swimming?"

"I'm not sure . . ."

Before Rachel could finish Finn interrupted "how would you like that son?" he questioned and smiled in response to little Finn's nod. "So swimming it is then?" he raised his eyebrow a little and turned to Rachel.

"I'm not sure we can . . ."

"Why not?" he frowned.

"I need new swimming things and so does she and I've not had time to get any"

"So get some?"

"Well you haven't sorted my wages out yet so I'd have a job doing that . . ."

"So let's go to a shop and I'll get you whatever you need"

"Finn, I can't expect you to buy me clothes"

"You're not, I'm offering and technically, they're not clothes." He smirked, "come on . . ."

"Please mama" Abigail pouted and Rachel sighed in defeat, which caused Finn to grin.

"I don't suppose I've been left with much choice have I?"

Finn shook his head and laughed "nope" he stepped over to the door of the car and opened it for her to get inside.

After going to a shop with Finn, Rachel had gotten herself a bikini and Abigail a little swimming costume. She hadn't been too keen on the idea of spending her night in a pool full of people but she guessed that if it was what Abigail wanted to do then she should make the effort. Rachel would have been lying if she'd have said she wasn't a little nervous about wearing so little in Finn's presence though she refuse to admit the reason behind that to herself.

After getting into the changing area Rachel and Abigail split from Finn and little Finn, but arranged to meet the two of them by the side of the changing rooms before making their way over to the pool. In the changing room, Rachel helped an excited Abigail to change into her swimming costume before blowing up armbands for her. After placing one on each arm she changed into the bikini that Finn had just bought for her.

"Mama we go now?"

"In a minute"

"You take long time"

Rachel laughed and nodded "yeah I know."

After putting their things into a bag she zipped it up and stepped out of the changing room and over to the locker that she'd got a key for, Abigail leant against her legs a little. Once Rachel had put the bags away the band that held the locker key around her wrist she headed out of the changing area and over to the pool, smiling when she found Finn was already there. Before she had chance to speak Abigail raced off towards the pool and Rachel was quick to grab her around the waist and lift her from the floor. "Don't you dare run off in here, Abigail."

"You were quicker than me"

Rachel frowned "what do you mean?"

"He was right off over there" Finn gestured to further ahead in front of them where the slides were and Rachel laughed.

"It seems we might have our work cut out for us"

"You're not wrong there"

"Well just remember if this all goes wrong that it was your idea to come here"

Finn smirked "which pool?"

"I think we better start with the babies one before we venture off into the big one, don't you?"

Finn nodded and laughed a little "yeah I think you might be right there . . . Ladies first . . ."

Rachel walked through into the pool and on getting into water she knew would be comfortable enough for Abigail to stand up in she put her down and was met with an excited squeal on doing so. Rachel smiled at her excitement and moved to sit down in the pool, her back now against the side. "You don't get out of this pool without me"

Abigail nodded her understanding before plodding off further into the water. Finn put little Finn down and told him something similar to what Rachel had said before he ran off to meet Abigail. Finn sat down beside Rachel with his back against the side too, and Rachel was glad that the pool wasn't too busy. There were only two other people with their children and Rachel was beginning to think that spending the time in a swimming baths might not be as bad as she first thought.

"So . . ."

When Finn spoke Rachel turned to the side and let a small smile pass her lips, "so . . ." she repeated and bit down on her bottom lip a little as she silently admitted how fit his body was. She couldn't deny she had taken note of it and she was impressed, though she had no intention of telling Finn that.

"It would seem that we have time to talk . . ."

"So it does . . . You know, people of a suspicious mind might think that you're deliberately creating situations where you can spend time with me . . ."

He shrugged before turning to her with a devilish grin "well who knows, they might be right . . ."

Though Rachel didn't turn to Finn he knew that there was a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. There were a couple of moments of quiet between them before Rachel spoke up again, with a question that changed the conversation completely. "Does wifey know you're out with the enemy?"

Finn raised his eyebrow "enemy?"

"I can't imagine she's very fond of me"

Finn chuckled a little and then shook his head "she's not around."

"Oh . . ."

"It's her mum's birthday this week and she's taking her away for a couple of days and then on to a spa weekend."

"It's alright for some . . ."

"You're here with me Rachel, how could you possibly want anything else?"

She laughed and gave a gentle shake of her head in response to what he had said. "Why did she come back for a night if she was going away again?"

Finn shrugged "for Finn I guess and for me, of course"

Rachel smirked "you're so annoying sometimes."

"How?"

"Well when your ego gets in the way of my conversation for a start."

He laughed

Rachel turned to him and smiled at the sound, before thinking aloud. "I'd love to just be able to jet off whenever I felt like it."

"Have you ever been abroad?"

Rachel nodded "I lived in France for a little while with . . ." she paused for a moment, not ready to share that bit of her history with him yet. " . . . Abigail but then we moved back here and we haven't been since."

"Is there somewhere you would like to go?"

"Like I would tell you if there was."

"Why?"

"Well I might end up with a couple of tickets for us landing on my desk tomorrow and be forced to accept them."

Finn laughed "fine, point taken . . ." he hesitated for a moment, a little unsure of what he was going to say next though he didn't want to admit to himself why. However, before he could get the full question out, Abigail raced towards Rachel through the water. "I've got something to ask you . . ."

"Mama" Abigail grinned and plonked herself down in Rachel's lap.

"You know for a dinky little thing you're pretty heavy"

"No you heavy"

Rachel smirked and raised her hands to smooth her now wet hair back before turning to Finn who was sitting at the side of her. "You having fun mate?"

He smiled shyly and nodded "you take me on slide?"

Rachel nodded "course I will sweetheart." She turned to Finn before speaking again "do you mind sitting with her while I take him?"

Finn shook his head in answer, a small smile playing on his lips.

"I go too?" Abigail questioned, a small frown now upon her expression.

"Once I've taken Finn, you've got to go one at a time baby." Rachel held her hand out to Finn who took it and moved to stand at her side.

"But on the other hand, you can spend some time with me . . ." Finn told Abigail, giving her a playful grin.

"I make you ready to swim?"

"Go on then"

Rachel bit down on her bottom lip to silence a laugh that was about to escape her when Abigail made Finn help her to take her armbands off to out on him. "Have fun . . ." she teased, before picking little Finn up and walking towards the stairs to get to the slide with him. "Your daddy doesn't know what he's let himself in for."

After swimming and getting some food Finn had persuaded Rachel to go back for a drink and she had accepted. She was now sitting in his huge living room with a glass of red wine rested in her lap with him sitting beside her on the couch. "Abigail really enjoyed today . . . Thank you . . ."

Finn smiled "thank you for taking your job back"

"It should be me thanking you for that too"

"No, it shouldn't"

Rachel had a little more of the wine and hesitated for a second before speaking again, a little quieter than she had been. "What was it that you were going to ask me?"

"Oh . . . That"

Rachel nodded "yeah, that . . ."

"I throw a party every year for some friends and people that work for me and I wanted to ask you if you would come. I've already invited everyone else from the factory and I didn't want to leave out my favorite employee . . ."

Rachel laughed "favorite?"

Finn nodded

"Now what would that do for staff moral?" Rachel raised her eyebrow a little and tilted her head to the side so that it was rested gently against the back of the couch she was sitting on.

Finn's arm was stretched out across the back of the couch and when Rachel tilted her head to the side he let his fingertips brush the nape of her neck gently, grateful when she didn't move away. When he spoke his voice was considerably quieter and now nothing above a whisper. "I won't tell if you don't . . ."

Rachel swallowed hard at the words he chose, the feeling of his fingertips against her skin, the offer of the party, her feeling's for him? She rose the glass to her lips to have a little more of the wine that was in it as a way of distracting herself from the road her thoughts were going down. She couldn't do that now; especially when she was sitting next to the man they were about. "The party . . ." she breathed and Finn nodded slowly. "What day is it?"

"Friday . . ."

"What time?"

"You can come whenever, I've told everyone else about half seven though."

Rachel nodded, his fingertips distracting her from what she was trying to say though as distracting as they were she knew that she would have been disappointed if he'd made any attempt to move and stop his touch. "Can I bring Abigail . . . It's just I have no one that could take care of her right now . . ."

"Of course you can, what would Finn do without her?"

Rachel gave a small smile "they do seem to be getting on rather well"

"They're not the only ones . . ."

Rachel swallowed once more as quiet fell upon them, the only sound in the room of their breaths. Rachel's heartbeat was ringing in her ears and though she wanted to kiss Finn, she just about managed to stop herself. "I'd better get going to put Abigail to bed . . . Thank you for tonight and for the wine . . ." she whispered, before getting up and reluctantly moving away from him.

Finn nodded and stood himself "I think Finn will be ready for bed too . . ."

"Where are they, in the playroom?"

Finn smiled and nodded "yeah come on, let's go and get them"

Rachel followed Finn into the playroom and as she stepped through the door she smiled at what she found. Finn and Abigail were curled up side by side on a huge beanbag flat out. "I guess they were even more tired than we thought," she whispered.

Finn nodded in agreement "I guess they were . . . Do you want to stay here for the night?"

Rachel shook her head "no . . . You don't have to do that, but if you have a blanket it might help?"

Finn smiled and nodded in response, he left the room and Rachel smiled at the to toddlers before her. Finn returned only seconds later with a blanket for her and she nodded her thanks before carefully picking Abigail up and wrapping her in it. She stirred a little but Rachel ran her hand over her back to settle her once more. Abigail nuzzled into Rachel's neck and let one arm fall over her shoulder as she clutched the other in a fist against her chest.

"I'll get Dom to take you home," Finn whispered and though Rachel didn't want him to so he wouldn't find out where she lived, she knew it would be unfair to walk home with Abigail in the cold.

"Thank you . . ."

Moments later he returned and Rachel followed him it into the hallway and to the front door as Dom exited and walked to the car before getting inside. "I'm glad you enjoyed tonight . . ." he whispered.

Rachel nodded and gave a small smile and when Finn leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, Rachel accepted, the pair of them lingering for a title longer than what could be considered as friendly. Rachel reluctantly pulled away and gave a small, shy smile before turning around and walking to the car with her daughter. Once she was in the car Dom drove away from the house and Rachel gave Finn a small wave before they were around the corner. It wasn't long before Rachel was confronted with the question that she dreaded and she knew that there was little she could do but tell Dom her address. However, his reaction wasn't like what she had thought it might be and after telling him where she lived he just nodded and drove in that direction. It was only minutes before Rachel arrived at home and Dom got out of the car and opened the door for her, she gave a grateful smile and got out with Abigail in her arms once more. She turned the key in her front door and then spoke to Dom before he left.

"Dom . . . I would really appreciate it if you didn't tell Finn where I lived . . ."

He nodded once more "course miss, take care."

"You too . . ."


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm not too pleased with this chapter, but tell me what you think. I should be writing more now as my family have decided to stay in Europe for an extra month :) Reviews and thoughts please.**

When Friday morning arrived Rachel dropped Abigail off at nursery before going into town. Finn had let her take the day off and with the share of her wages he had given her early, she decided to get both herself and Abigail something new to wear to the party that Finn had invited them to. She wondered whether it was such a good idea to go given that she wouldn't really know anyone and as it was Finn's party, he probably wouldn't be there for her to talk to. The thought made her sigh and ending up like a spare part wasn't something that she wanted. However, she had told Finn that she would go and she didn't want to go back on it now. Having been living in the area for not very long, Rachel hoped that there would be people there that she could talk to and maybe even become friends with, but after how things had gone at the factory, she wasn't sure that would be the case.

Once Abigail was back from nursery Rachel had gotten a shower and given her a bath before changing into a new black dress she'd bought herself. The dress went too halfway down her thighs, had a square neck and chiffon sleeves. She slipped her feet into a pair of nude colored stilettos and softly curled her hair before doing her make-up. She had no idea what she was supposed to wear and just hoped what she had chosen wouldn't make her stand out like a sore thumb. Once Rachel was ready she picked Abigail up and put her onto the bed before changing her into a little white dress and a pair of cute pink shoes. After dressing her, Rachel placed a little bow clip into her mane of black curls before picking her up.

"There we are, beautiful"

"You pretty mama"

Rachel smiled "so are you princess"

"We go party now?"

Rachel nodded "are you excited"

"Yeah, I play with Finn"

"Yeah of course. Did you play with him at nursery today?"

Abigail nodded "we had two cakes not one . . ."

"Were you only supposed to have one?"

Abigail nodded "we hungry"

Rachel bit back a laugh "did your teacher know?"

"No we hid"

"Don't do that again . . ."

"They taste nice"

"I'm sure they did but if your teacher tells you just to have one, you only have one"

Abigail hesitated for a moment before nodding "we make cakes mama?"

Rachel nodded "yeah we might make some one day if you want to."

"Morrow?"

"Maybe, if you're not too tired."

Abigail rested her head gently against Rachel's shoulder and Rachel turned to kiss the side of her hair. After picking her bag up she wrapped one of her cardigans around Abigail and left the house, locking the door before she turned to get into a taxi. Rachel turned to the side when Abigail spoke and gave a small smile.

"Dummy mama?"

Rachel picked up the pink dummy that was in her bag and passed it to Abigail who put it into her mouth immediately. Rachel knew that she was tired and though she had wanted her to have a nap she hadn't had time after getting her back from nursery to then get the both of them ready and be at Finn's for the time she had told him she would be.

On arriving at Finn's Rachel paid the taxi driver before wandering up to the door and knocking. When Rachel had knocked, Abigail leant forward in her arms and did the same as April opened the door. "Hello Miss, come through"

Rachel stepped into the hall "call me Rachel please . . ."

April smiled "Finn is through here Rachel . . ."

Rachel was lead through the house and out into the huge garden where Finn had had a marquee put up. Rachel gasped quietly at the size of it and dreamt of things that she might like to do if she had as much money as he had. She silently wondered how he had gotten it all given that he was still so young but she was pulled from her thoughts when Finn reached her. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a smart white shirt, his hair was gelled a little and once again he smelt delicious. "Hey . . ." she smiled, adjusting a wriggling Abigail in her arms.

Finn was quiet for a moment, rendered speechless at her beauty, "I'm glad you came . . ." he stated quietly.

"Thank you for inviting me . . ."

"You're welcome" Finn smiled before reaching out to Abigail to hold her hand gently. "Hey you, what's wrong? Don't you want to be at my party?" Finn pouted.

Abigail giggled "you silly . . ."

Finn gasped in mock shock "I'm not silly"

"You is"

Rachel smirked "you won't win this argument Finn, let me tell you. Is baby Finn in the playroom?"

Finn laughed and nodded "do you want me to get you a drink for when you get back?"

Rachel nodded "please . . ." She then turned on her heel and walked through the kitchen and out into the hallway before turning right and stepping inside the room that Abigail usually found herself in when they were at Finn's. "Hey mate" Rachel smiled when she walked through the door and found Finn playing with a big truck. She put Abigail down who ran over to him and picked up another of the trucks that was on the floor. "Have fun you two . . ." Rachel smiled before turning to leave, but was stopped when Abigail spoke.

"You play mama?"

"urr . . ."

"You have dis one?" Finn asked, holding a yellow truck up to Rachel as he spoke and she found herself unable to decline the offer.

"Thank you" she smiled and sat down on the floor with them "so, what's this game we play then?"

"We race" Finn grinned

"Like dis vroom vroom" Abigail added and Rachel laughed.

"One . . . Two . . . Free" Finn counted and on getting to three he and Abigail pushed their trucks forwards so that they rolled ahead and onto a mat. Rachel did the same and laughed once more when Finn cheered after his truck arrived in the mat first.

"I win"

"Race again" Abigail announced before running to get the trucks from the mat.

Rachel was passed the truck she had been using by Abigail and Finn counted them in once more before racing and this time Rachel won. She cheered playfully but came to a sharp stop when Finn spoke up from behind her. "Having fun are you?"

Rachel turned around quickly and blushed, shaking her head a little before she stood up. "I was just . . . Getting down with the kids"

He smirked "in here Ryan mate . . ." Rachel frowned in confusion for a moment until a boy of around five with a mop of dark hair walked into the room. "You know where your mum is if you want her don't you?" He nodded and Finn turned to walk out of the room, waiting for Rachel.

Rachel kissed Abigail once more and told her to be good before leaving her to play, following Finn out of the room. "Who was that little boy?"

"He's my nephew"

"Oh right . . ." she smiled

"I'm glad you came tonight . . . Thank you"

"Like I said before, thank you for inviting me . . ."

"You're more than welcome," on getting outside Finn lead her through into the marquee and she swallowed hard. There was a dance floor at the bottom of it and tables all up one side with food on, with tables up the other for people to sit at. Really it was just a big tent and the thought that all of this could fit inside it made Rachel want to laugh, though she wasn't sure why. For a girl from a council estate, a single mum that had very little, she felt so out of her depth being where she was. In the house where Rachel lived she didn't have a garden, but a yard and she would have struggled to fit a table and chairs in it, let alone a posh tent for a party. "I've got you a drink . . ." Finn smiled, and Rachel was pulled from her thoughts.

She took the glass of champagne from him and gave a small smile "thank you"

Finn nodded and then smiled at someone over her shoulder, which caused Rachel to turn around. "Rachel I'd like you to meet my sister, Santana. Santana this is Rachel, Rachel Santana" he smiled.

Rachel gave a small nod and smiled in acknowledgement to what Finn had said. She could tell they were related and the warm smile that she was given from the woman who she guessed was around the same age as her made her feel a little easier about the situation that she was in.

"Where's Puck?" Finn questioned, "he is coming isn't he?"

Santana nodded "yeah, he's over there with Puck"

"Have fun ladies" Finn grinned before walking across the floor and over to where a group of men were sitting.

"Do you want to sit down love?" Santana asked.

Rachel nodded and on sitting down beside Santana she found that they clicked immediately. "Finn said that you've just started working for him?"

"Yeah, in the office in Underworld, I needed a job and he needed someone there so . . ." she shrugged "it helped out both of us."

"Are you enjoying it?"

Rachel nodded "I think so yeah, it's taking a little getting used to."

Santana smiled "I'm sure you're fine, he wouldn't have you in there if you weren't."

"What is it that you do?"

"I have a salon"

When Santana answered Rachel remembered the first conversation she'd had with Finn when he had told her that he owned the salon that his sister ran. She smiled, she could imagine her working there. Her hair was immaculate. "Oh I imagine that's a nice job."

"It can be" she smiled. "Finn said you had a little one?"

"Yeah, I do. Abigail, she's two"

"The terrible two's hey?"

Rachel laughed and nodded "yes, she can throw world class tantrums when she wants to."

"Sounds like Ryan"

"Oh, you have a son?"

She nodded "yeah, he's 5."

Rachel smiled, remember the little boy who had walked into the playroom who Finn had told her was his nephew. However, before she could answer what Santana had said a blonde woman walked over to them with a smile. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Santana shook her head and the woman took a seat. "Brittany this is Rachel, Rachel this is Brittany."

"Hi" Brittany smiled, as she pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Hello . . ."

"We were just talking about kids . . ." Santana told her.

Brittany laughed, "oh I know all about that"

"She has a son too," Santana stated

"Well, he's a step-son technically but we're trying to find out how I go about adopting him."

Rachel smiled "oh, how old is he?"

"He's 9, just."

"Is he here?"

Brittany nodded "yeah, he's playing, Sam's mum and dad were going to babysit but it turns out they were going out too."

"Oh right, well it's not like he'll have a lack of things to play with in here."

"I know what you mean, when Simon comes back from here he's always after something else."

Rachel laughed before having some more of her drink, feeling a little more relaxed about things now that she had people to talk to. She was beginning to enjoy herself and she was glad that she'd made the effort to come rather than backing out at the last minute.

"Well" Santana began, a mischievous smile forming over her features, "as the kids are sorted what do you girls say to having some more champagne and maybe a dance later on?"

Rachel nodded a small smile playing on her lips as she spoke, "I think it'd be rude not to . . ."

They smiled once more before clinking glasses, going back to their conversation.

Finn now found himself on a table sitting with a group of his friends who he'd invited. They lived around the area and he went to the pub with them regularly, when they'd first met they thought that given all of the money he had he would think himself better than they were but were pleasantly surprised when they found out he was quite the opposite and shared a similar sense of humor to all of them. The group included Sam Evans, Puck, Just Puck, Jake Puckerman and Kurt Hummel. Sam had just told them a story about something that had happened with his ex Mercedes and the table had roared in laughter. As the laughter died down Sam nodded in gesture to where Rachel was sitting and spoke up. "er, Who's that Finn?"

Finn smirked and shook his head at something Puck had said before he answered Sam. "Who?"

"The dark haired bird sat over there with your Santana and Brittany."

"Rachel . . ."

"Oh, Rachel is it . . ." Kurt raised his eyebrow suggestively and Finn shook his head, immediately picking up on what he was trying to suggest.

"Yes, Rachel who is managing the office at Underworld."

"Is that all?"

Puck laughed "something you want to tell us mate?"

Finn shook his head "no, there isn't."

"She is gorgeous mate . . ." Sam added

Finn smirked "oh I'll tell Brit that shall i?"

"Now there'll be no need for that."

"I hadn't even noticed," Finn lied.

"Yeah right" Jake scoffed.

"I tell you what, I think I'll go and get us some more drinks" Finn stated, before getting up from the table to go and get another round of drinks even though he hadn't needed not wanting to admit it, deep down he knew that he'd got up, as the conversation at the able was a little too close for comfort for him. He knew he felt more for Rachel than he should have as a married man and it seemed that regardless of what he did his thoughts always lead back to her and he found himself wanting to spend as much time with her as he could.


	9. Chapter 9

**I just want to give a special shoutout to these amazing people for their reviews: gleek4480, noro, Gleecrazy09, ouzou-VM. All of your feeback and reviews mean the world to me! I just want to thank you guys all for leaving such positive reviews, I try reply to as many of them as I can :) If you have a question or anything at all jut PM ( private message ) me or leave a review and I'll respond to it :) Also I'd appreciate it if you'd look at my new fanfiction 'Silent Suprises.' I love you all and thankyou once again. **

It was now around eleven o clock and Rachel had had her fair share of champagne and was at that moment in time on the dance floor, moving in time to the music with Santana and Brittany. There were other people around them but none of whom Rachel knew. She was pleasantly surprised at how much she had enjoyed the night she'd been a little worried about attending and had been more than willing to accept Santana's offer of visiting her salon for a treatment in the near future. Rachel silently wondered whether Maria had told anyone what had gone on between the two of them but given how people were acting around her she guessed not. She hoped that things wouldn't change if she was to mention it but given that she was married to Finn she was inclined to think they would. Rachel bit down on the inside of her mouth and decided not to pursue the thoughts any further in case they ruined her night. Rachel turned around when Santana held her arm and gestured to Steve and Puck who had joined the group on the dance floor. Steve was doing some sort of goofy dance and Puck was stood beside him trying his best not to appear embarrassed. Rachel and Santana turned to one another and then burst into fits of laughter. Rachel shook her head a little before leaning over to speak to her, raising her voice a little over the music. "Oh that poor boy" Rachel laughed and was about to make a second comment to Santana when she felt tiny hands on the back of her legs. She frowned and turned around, smiling when she found April and Abigail. She picked Abigail up and held her on her hip as April spoke.

"Finn has gone to bed Rachel, she wanted her mum"

"Thanks for bringing her over here."

April nodded "you're welcome," she smiled and then retreated, and Rachel found herself idly wondering where she was going and if she had to stay up until everyone had left.

"Tired mama" Abigail stated, yawning.

Rachel gave a small smile "I know you are sweetheart, you've done well to stay up this late. You're going to be so tired tomorrow . . ."

"Want my dummy?" Abigail stated as she made a grab for the glass of champagne that Rachel had hold of in her other hand, which she moved from her reach.

Rachel nodded and turned around, but felt Santana's had on her arm once more, which caused her to turn full circle.

Santana smiled at Abigail and Rachel finished her drink before she could grab it once more, "hello beautiful . . ."

"Hello . . ." Abigail whispered shyly and Rachel ran her hand over her hair.

"She's gorgeous Rachel"

"Thank you . . . Listen, I think I'm going to sit with her for a little while. Go and save him will you for goodness sake," Rachel laughed, gesturing to Puck with a nod of her head before she walked back to one of the tables. She sat down with Abigail on her lap. "Have you had fun baby?" Rachel asked, opening her bag to get the pink dummy that was in there, handing it to Abigail once she'd got it.

Abigail put the dummy into her mouth before nodding in answer to Rachel's question. "You won at trucks"

Rachel smiled and wrapped her arms around Abigail securely, "I know I did, did you win after I'd gone?"

Abigail nodded "I made a new friend"

"Oh did you?"

"Ryan"

Rachel smiled "is he nice?"

Abigail nodded "he plays with blocks"

Rachel smiled and kissed her on the top of the head before running her hand over her hair gently as Abigail settled against her.

"Go bed mama?"

Rachel nodded and shifted Abigail a little so that she could stand up. "Yeah, let's say bye to Finn first though."

Rachel held Abigail on her hip and she nuzzled into her neck, but sat up with a frown after only a second. "Your hair tickles," Abigail stated, shaking her head a little as Rachel laughed and moved her hair so Abigail could cuddle back up to her once more.

Rachel smiled when Finn walked towards her; she met him halfway and stepped to one side on reaching him. "Hey, we've just come to say thank you for a lovely night but we're going to go."

"Already? It's only early . . ."

"I know but she's tired, she didn't have time for a nap this afternoon. She's done well to stay up this late."

"Well why don't you just stay here?"

"You don't have to do that, I'll go call a taxi."

"It's no trouble, really. The beds are already there and made up."

Rachel hesitated for a moment before nodding "as long as you don't mind then, I'll take her up to bed now?"

Finn nodded and smiled "night night Abigail"

Abigail waved and Rachel mouthed a "thank you" at him before turning around, walking through into the hall and then up the stairs. Rachel wondered which room she was supposed to use but guessed as long as the one she picked was empty, then he wouldn't mind. On getting to the end of one side of the landing she opened the fourth door and found a large room with a double bed in the middle. There was a large TV on the wall opposite and a small brow tables at either side of the bed. One of them had a lamp on and the other nothing. Rachel guessed that the table, which was free of any object, was so that whoever was staying in the room could use it for whatever they wanted. She closed the door to behind her and ventured a little further inside. Either side of the wall with the TV on there were two doors, one of them was glass and on opening it Rachel found a walk in wardrobe which made her gasp quietly. She closed the door and walked to the other, and behind it she found a large en suite bathroom. Rachel closed the second door and shook her head a little in awe at how beautiful the room was. Underneath the window there was a seat that was cushioned and built into the wall and Rachel smiled, imagining sitting by the window thinking about what was going on.

After pausing by the window for a moment Rachel turned around and walked over to the bed with Abigail, she took the little shoes off that she was wearing and placed them on the floor before taking the clip out of her hair. She put it to one side on the bed and pulled back the thick cover before putting Abigail in.

"Big bed" Abigail stated and she moved so that she was laid out in a starfish position, causing Rachel to laugh.

"It is, isn't it?" she smiled while getting up to close the thick luxurious curtains that were hanging by the window. After closing them, Rachel kicked her shoes off and walked around the bed to lay down beside Abigail, draping her arm across her gently so that she could run her hand up and down her back, something that she knew soothed her.

"You stay mama?"

Rachel nodded "of course sweetheart . . ."

There were a couple of moments of quiet between them before Abigail spoke up once more. "Finn, Finn's daddy?"

Rachel nodded "yeah"

"Where my daddy?"

Rachel stilled for a moment and swallowed hard at what Abigail had asked, Rachel had prepared herself for that question in the days after she had ran from Brody but when it wasn't asked she'd allowed herself to relax a little and tried to forget about it. Abigail had spent very little time with Brody due to his business and social life and she guessed her lack of asking about him was due to those reasons. Rachel found herself with no idea what to say to her daughter and there was a lengthy pause before she managed to force an answer, her voice a whisper. "What?"

"Where my daddy? He gone?"

Rachel pressed her lips together for a moment as a way of delaying have to answer, and then nodded, before speaking up in answer to what Abigail had asked. "It's just me and you baby . . ."

Abigail hesitated for a moment, almost as thought she was processing what she had been told before she spoke once more. "I love you mama" she whispered and cuddled up to Rachel in bed as she slowly drifted off.

Rachel whispered that she loved her too and ran her hands over her back as she settled against her. She couldn't deny that she was shocked at the question but she was glad of how Abigail had reacted to the answer. Rachel was unsure how she would have reacted if she had given any hint that she had missed Brody, on one hand she would have wanted to stop that and let her visit him but on the other she wouldn't have for her safety and so she never had to go back there. The thought of doing so made her feel sick to the stomach.

Little did Rachel know that in the other side of the bedroom door Finn stood after going to check on the two of them, he had caught the conversation she'd just had with her daughter and he couldn't help but feel he had trespassed into their lives in some way he shouldn't have. It hadn't been deliberate but he knew that he knew something he shouldn't and that even if he had been given the chance he wouldn't have erased his new knowledge of the woman that he was growing fonder of by the day. Finn also noted the change in Rachel's tone when she spoke about Abigail's father and he couldn't help wanting to know more about what had happened to them before they had moved.

A couple of hours later after leaving Abigail once she had nodded off, Rachel had gone back downstairs to the party and had continued drinking champagne and getting to know people. She had just said her goodbyes to Santana who was the last to leave and after Finn had closed the front door she found herself standing opposite him in the large hallway unsure of what to say. "So . . ."

Finn grinned, "do you want another drink?" He asked, gesturing to the empty glass she was holding.

"Yes please"

Finn took Rachel's hand and led her though into the living room, picking two glasses up on his way. Once she was inside he gestured to the couch "you can sit down sit down," he smiled and Rachel found herself doing just that. Once he had poured the drinks Finn handed one to Rachel and then sat down beside her. "So, have you enjoyed yourself?"

Rachel nodded "yeah, I really have . . ." she paused for a moment; almost silently debating with herself whether she should add what she was thinking. In the end she decided to and spoke up again. "I did think about backing out at the last minute tonight . . ."

Finn raised his eyebrow "why?"

"I only knew you and I didn't want to feel like a spare part . . ." she admitted

Finn smiled "Rachel, do you really think I would have left you on your own?"

Rachel gave a shy smile and shook her head.

"So if I was to invite you again would you come?"

"I think I would yeah . . . If for no other reason than the champagne."

"Hey" Finn pouted playfully.

"What, it's really good champagne" Rachel smirked.

Finn pushed her to one side playfully "is that supposed to console me?"

Rachel kicked her shoes off by the couch and nudged him with her foot "behave or you'll make me spill this . . ."

"April will clean it up."

"If you stop it she won't have to . . ."

Finn smirked "what are you going to do about it?"

Rachel nudged him with her foot once more and squealed and laughed at the same time when Finn grabbed it. "Stop it, give me my foot back . . ." Rachel whispered, the small smile on her expression letting Finn know that despite trying to tell him off for what he was doing she was enjoying their joking around.

"Or what?" Finn smirked before pulling her leg gently so that she slid closer to him on the couch.

Rachel laughed once more at his action before letting her head rest gently against his shoulder as Finn moved his arm to wrap around her. "Abigail is getting quite fond of you and little Finn."

"Good . . ." he smiled "I'm fond of the both of you too."

Rachel smiled "are you this friendly with all of your employees?"

Finn shook his head and whispered "you're special, Rachel"

Rachel raised her eyebrow a little, a small smile playing on her lips. "Really?"

Finn nodded and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose and Rachel smiled. "You can be quite cute"

"Thanks, I think"

"It was compliment . . ."

Finn smiled "in that case thanks for the compliment." He hesitated for a moment before turning to Rachel to speak to her once more albeit a little unsure of how she would react to his suggestion. "I was thinking . . ."

"Is that not a bit dangerous?"

He smirked "oh very funny . . . No, I was thinking maybe we could go to the beach one day with Abigail and Finn, they seemed to enjoy the pool when we took them . . ."

"I think that's a lovely idea"

"So next weekend maybe?"

"Won't Maria have something to say about us spending the day together?" She raised her eyebrow a little.

"Forget about Maria, if she has something to say about it I'll talk to her."

"I'm surprised she's not here."

"I told you she was away . . ."

"I know . . . Does she know about this?"

Finn laughed "yes" he nodded "but she chose to spend the weekend with her mum rather than attend."

"Well, she doesn't know what she's missing."

Finn smiled and gave Rachel a gentle squeeze, sitting in a comfortable silence with only the music playing softly in the background. Given how long they had known each other Finn knew that it probably should have been much more awkward between them, but it wasn't. It felt like they had known each other for so much longer and in that moment Finn found himself questioning his marriage. But stopped the thoughts quickly when it became apparent which path they were heading down. The music playing in the background went to the next song on the CD and it was then Rachel next spoke. "Oh, I love this song, dance with me?"

Finn's expression must have given away how uneasy he was about the request and before he could answer she pouted like he often did. "Oh come on, don't be shy . . ." she smiled, her voice taking on a teasing undertone as she spoke to him.

"Oh how can I say no to you?" he grinned.

Rachel smiled and got up from the couch, now considerably shorter in height as she had no shoes on. Standing opposite Finn, Rachel looped her arms around his neck gently and he placed a hand either side of her hips as they moved in time to the music. As the song progressed the two of them gradually got closer and Rachel pleased her head against his shoulder gently. "I don't know what you were worried for, you have some moves there . . ."

Finn smirked "oh is that so? I always thought I had two left feet . . ."

"That must have proven very difficult when you went to buy shoes . . ."

"Oh so you think you're a comedienne now?" he raised his eyebrow and Rachel laughed, moving back a little, though remaining close enough so that their noses were almost touching. Finn found himself smiling back at her, but within seconds the atmosphere in the room had changed and Rachel raised her hands to push his hair back gently. Finn dipped his head a little and hesitated for a moment before letting his lips brush Rachel's. She gasped, then pressed her lips a little more firmly against his, taking a small step closer to him, further into his embrace. "Are you sure about this?" Finn whispered.

Rachel nodded "I want this . . . I want you . . ."

Finn stepped back a little and then held his hand out to Rachel for her to hold. "Let's go to bed . . ."


	10. Chapter 10

**Woah! Chapter ten already! I write these fanfics beforehand thinking it'll get about 10 reviews at the most, but it's got nearly 40! That's insane. I want to thank you all so much for your continued support. You're all so sweet. As it is chapter ten I tried to make it as dramatic as possible and I wanted to do a cliffhanger? Hopefully you'll enjoy. I love you all for reading! **

The following morning, Rachel swallowed upon waking, her throat was like sandpaper and she desperately needed something to drink. The sun was shining in through the curtains and casting its warm glow over where she was laid in the bed. It was at that moment the events of the previous night came back to her and she sat up sharply with a gasp. She had spent the night with Finn. Rachel turned to the side and found herself thankful that he hadn't yet woken up. She needed to get out of there and she needed to get out of there fast, it was with that thought in mind that she swung her legs around to the side of the bed and carefully got out, using as little movement as possible so that there was only a minimal chance of her disturbing him. After collecting her underwear from the side of the bed Rachel put it on and then pulled her dress on, having a little fight with herself as she tried to zip it up at the back, unable to stop herself from remembering the previous night and how easily Finn had un done it.

Once she had her dress on, Rachel turned and bit down on her bottom lip to stop it trembling. She wanted to run her hands over Finn's hair but she knew that she couldn't, he was married, he was someone else's and she knew what had happened the previous night had been a big mistake. She left the room silently and crept down the corridor and into the room Abigail was staying in. Rachel picked up the shoes and the clip that she'd left in there the night before and lifted Abigail so that she was laid in her arms undisturbed. Rachel knew that if she woke it would be much harder to get out of the house without anyone knowing and she wasn't sure she could deal with any questions. After getting downstairs Rachel slipped her shoes on and picked up her bag before wrapping her cardigan around Abigail. She left Finn's house and after walking out of the grounds and a little way down the road she was thankful when a taxi drove towards her, which she stopped and used to get a lift back to her house.

When the taxi came to a stop outside of the house Rachel frowned when two well-built men stepped out of it and put four bin bags onto the floor before locking the door. She got out of the taxi quickly and shook her head a little in sheer panic at what was going on.

"What are you doing, that's my house."

"Not anymore it's not love."

"What do you mean? You can't just throw me out I've got nowhere to go."

"Not our problem love. The land lord wants you out."

Rachel gritted her teeth to try desperately to keep her emotions under control though she struggled. "You can't do this, you're supposed to give me a month's notice. Where am I going to go?" she snapped, running her free and over her hair getting more and more angry as each moment passed. Rachel knew that if Abigail hadn't have been there she would have wiped the smug smirks from both of their expressions. "I have a little girl I can't just stay out on the street . . ."

"Not our problem love." the bigger of the two men stated before walking past Rachel, nudging her with his shoulder as he went, which caused Abigail to wake. Rachel stepped to one side to avoid losing her balance, now seething but when Abigail whimpered it immediately turned to concern.

"Hey baby shhhh," Rachel soothed, desperate to try to hide how bad things were to her daughter.

"I go bed? I tired . . ." Abigail mumbled and Rachel nodded, despite not knowing where "bed" would be that night.

"I think we're going to go on a little adventure sweetheart."

"No bed?"

"Soon baby, I promise . . ."

Abigail nodded and curled back up in Rachel's arms looping her arm around her neck for a cuddle, refusing to let go. The taxi driver that had dropped Rachel off at her house walked up to the side of her and she frowned, though what he wanted soon became apparent. "You haven't paid me love . . ."

"Oh, I'm sorry" Rachel mumbled and used one of her arms to hold Abigail and the other to get some money out. She passed over a £10 note "is that enough?"

He nodded "yeah, more than. Can I take you anywhere else?"

"Do you know where any b&b's are?"

The guy nodded and smiled at her sadly "yeah get back in and I'll drive you around to find out if there are any vacancies."

"Thank you . . ." Rachel whispered, feeling as though she might weep at how nice he was being.

She got back into the car with Abigail who had settled once more and as she put the seatbelt over them she could only hope that she had found somewhere before she woke up once more. Rachel checked her purse and was glad to find that she had some money in it, she had no idea what she was going to do on a long-term basis but she just hoped that if she could get herself sorted for that night she would be able to give it some more thought.

When Finn stirred he reached out to find Rachel but all he was met with was a cold, empty space. He sat up and sighed when it dawned on him that she had gone. Of course he wished that she hadn't and he couldn't help feeling that he should have been prepared for that, silently he wondered what she was thinking about what had happened between the two of them and despite knowing that he should regret what had happened, he didn't.

Finn flopped back down into the bed and sighed, he wasn't sure what he was going to do from that point in regards to Maria or Rachel but it was only seconds before he decided that he wanted to try to speak to Rachel and find out what she was thinking. He moved his legs around to the side of the bed and pulled on a pair of boxers before descending the stairs. He picked up his phone from the side and dialed Rachel's number, walking into the kitchen to get himself a glass of orange juice as it rang. When it went to voicemail he let out an angry sigh. I don't want to talk to a stupid automatic machine, he thought, I want to talk to her.

Finn leaned against the kitchen counter, his back against the cool marble wasn't the most comfortable of positions but he didn't case, he needed to talk to Rachel and he worried that she wasn't answering her phone. When April walked into the kitchen he managed a small smile and was thankful when she put it down to him being tired or hung-over, or a mixture of both.

"Can I make you a full English Finn?" she questioned softly, "will Rachel be wanting her breakfast do you know?"

Finn nodded at her first question, feeling his heart speed up at just the mention of her name. "Rachel's gone April, she urr . . . She had a couple of things that she needed to do."

"Did she have fun?"

"I think so" he nodded, and then am his way into the living room, putting a stop to the conversation before it went to far.

Rachel was standing in the middle of a small room she had booked to spend the night in with Abigail. After getting some money from the cash point she had gone to one of the hotels that the guy who was driving the taxi had told her about and she was thankful that they had a room left. There was a double bed with a small TV opposite it and a bathroom. The room was very basic but at that moment in time it was all Rachel could afford. Abigail stirred and when she wriggled Rachel put her down to let her stand, the bags of their things were in the corner of the room and she ran over to them. "No leave them baby."

"Why they like dis?"

"We're moving sweetheart . . ."

"Again?"

Rachel nodded.

"No, me want my bed"

"We have a bed here . . ."

Abigail shook her head and when her bottom lip started to wobble Rachel thought that everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks was just going to become too much and make her crumble. "No . . . My bed, I no stay here."

"Stay here with me, only for one night?"

Abigail began to cry and shook her head, stamping her foot as she curled her hands into little fists and shouted at Rachel. "no mama, no want to stay here."

Rachel sighed quietly and swallowed hard, shaking her head a little before speaking up as she took a step closer to Abigail and leaned down to pick her up. "Don't get upset baby, just one day alright? I know you're tired but how about we have a bath and then curl up in bed and you can put your cartoons on?" she whispered, kissing the side of her head gently.

Abigail whispered quietly and sniffed before nodding at what Rachel had said. Rachel kissed her once more before she walked through into the bathroom, bathing Abigail before getting washed herself and once they had both changed into a pair of pajama's Rachel curled up in bed with her daughter and put on the cartoons as she had promised. She knew that everything which had happened over the past couple of weeks would have been a lot for Abigail to take in, though she hadn't understood just how much she had been effected until her earlier outburst. She only hoped that the following day she would be able to find somewhere more permanent for them to stay and hoped that by doing so would allow Abigail to get settled more than she was. Of course she wished she could provide for her properly without having to scrimp and save just to put some food on the table. But, given how she had left their other life she had known that was how it was going to be and as bad as it was, she knew it was either that, or just wait for the day that things went too far and she ended up in hospital, or worse.

Brody sat in his home that was located in the outskirts of Liverpool; it was luxurious and spacious, just how he liked it. It was moments after Brody had call up one of the men that worked for him that there was a knock on the door of the expensive house. The man that Brody had called to help him out was Rik, he was solidly built with large shoulders, and he was over six foot and had a shaved head. Brody often used him for collecting debts that people owed him and needless to say he usually got the money Brody wanted. Rik was always there when Brody needed someone and he was the person that he had employed the longest. It was due to working with each other for so long that they had become friends. Rik had been asked on more than one occasion to go and work with other people, he was notorious for how quickly and efficiently he got a job done, regardless of what it was as long as the price was right he would go it. However, Brody paid him too well for him to even think about working for someone else.

Brody sat down in the chair that he used if he was in the living room and Rik sat down on the sofa, leaning forwards a little with his elbows rested on his thighs. Both men had a glass of Whiskey and after having swig from the glass Rik was the first person to speak and break the silence that had descended in the room. "So, what's this bit of business that you want me to deal with, Brody?"

"To the point, as ever . . ."

Rik didn't answer; he knew the statement didn't require one.

"Well as you know my so called wife has done a runner with my kid, I thought she would have been back by now but she isn't, so I want her found and I want her found quickly. I think Rachel and I need to have words, don't you?" he smirked.

Rik nodded "silly girl"

"Indeed. I think she needs to be reminded of her wedding vows. In particular the "until death do us part" one."

Rik nodded "course. Do you have any clues as to where she might be?"

Brody shook his head "do you think I'd be here if I did? She has disappeared."

"Not for long." Rik smirked

Brody nodded, his smirk matching Rik's. He finished his drink and sat back in the chair, enjoying the knowledge that Rachel should be back with him soon.


	11. Chapter 11

** I didn't know how you'd respond to my last chapter, but it was so overwhelming. You mean alot to me and you're all so so so sweet. If you have a question just ask :) Thankyou! Enjoy :))**

The following morning Rachel dropped Abigail off at nursery after checking out of the hotel. After getting herself an appointment to find out what places were up for rent she went into the coffee shop she had been to previously with Finn and sat down in the corner with a drink, the bags of her and her daughter's belonging's that she was carrying were under the table. Rachel had taken Abigail to nursery later than normal to avoid Finn and it seemed that it had worked, she wasn't sure she could deal with him on top of everything else that was going on but when he walked through into the shop it didn't seem that she would have much choice. Rachel knew that she couldn't get out without having to walk past him. She had a large mouthful of coffee when he walked over to her table with his, though she couldn't help but wish that she were drinking something stronger.

Finn put his coffee down on the table and sat opposite Rachel, he was also worried about the situation and he was unsure of how long that he could go without talking to her in general and about what had happened. He decided against asking if she minded that he had joined her, given that it would just give Rachel an excuse to walk away from what they needed to talk about and at that moment in time he guessed she would use any excuse she could get. When Rachel made no effort to speak, Finn decided that he should.

"You were late taking Abigail to nursery?"

Rachel nodded "yeah, my alarm didn't go off . . ." she lied.

"Is this about what happened . . . The other night?"

Rachel scoffed, though her voice came out much harsher than intended. "Oh don't flatter yourself . . ."

Finn sat back in his chair before raising his cup to have a drink of coffee, his shoulders were slumped a little and Rachel felt a sharp pang of guilt.

"I didn't mean that . . ." she mumbled and Finn nodded in understanding.

"I know, this is . . . Difficult . . ."

"That's an understatement if ever there was one . . ."

Finn let a small smile tug at the corners of his lips and it was seconds before Rachel's expression matched his.

"So if it's not about that, what is it about?"

"That?" Rachel raised her eyebrow.

Finn smirked "stop changing the subject . . . What's going on?"

Rachel sighed and shook her head a little; she didn't want to acknowledge what had happened even though she knew that she needed to. "Me and Abigail . . . We've been kicked out of the house . . ."

Finn frowned and leant forward so that his arms were on the table, his brow creasing in concern. "What do you mean? I thought you had to be given notice before you were evicted?"

"Oh like they care about that"

"Where did you go last night?"

"We stayed in a B&B"

Finn sighed and shook his head "why didn't you call me?"

"I just . . ."

Before Rachel could answer Finn interrupted "don't even answer that I know why . . ."

Rachel bit down on her bottom lip and hesitated for a moment before speaking again, though this time her voice was considerably quieter than it had been. "I know this is a bit rich but do I still have a job?"

Finn tilted his head to one side a little before answering her "of course you do, did you really have to ask and as for finding somewhere to live, don't worry about any of it . . ."

Rachel frowned "that might be a little easier said than done . . ."

Finn shook his head a little with a smile "no, you're coming to stay with me."

"I don't think that's a good idea, do you?"

"It's not up for discussion."

"I'm sure your wife might want to discuss it."

"She's not back until tomorrow, just leave her to me."

"I don't know whether it's such a good idea . . ."

"Where else are you going to go?"

Rachel shrugged before letting a defeated sigh pass her lips.

"Is that you backing down and finally getting that I am right once again . . ."

Rachel laughed "I think if I answer that you're ego might explode it's so big."

Finn smiled. "Come on, let's get your things to take back to mine, yeah?"

"Shall we finish our coffee's first?"

He nodded and smiled before raising the cup to his lips. Rachel did the same; to hide the smile that was still upon her expression and on doing so had a drink in sync with Finn.

On getting back to the house Finn had taken Rachel up to the bedroom that Abigail had used when they had stayed after the party. He had carried her bags up to the room and set them down upon getting inside, though had refused to let Rachel unpack them as she had offered, insisting that April would do it for her. Finn had also offered to give Abigail a room of her own but Rachel had told him that there wasn't any need and that he was being more than helpful to them by giving them one to share. The size of the room was far too big for two people as it was in Rachel's opinion, though she guessed Finn was used to the grand house.

After she had been upstairs with Finn, Rachel now found herself in the kitchen with him, sitting at the large table opposite him with yet another cup of coffee in front of her. She wasn't sure why but she began to feel a little awkward at now being alone with him after April had gone up the stairs once they had come down. Of course she had been alone with Finn in the coffee shop, but there had been other people around so she had known that particular topics of conversation were off limits, whereas at that moment in time, they weren't. Finn spoke up as Rachel thought he would and as he did it became apparent to her that the conversation was about to be what she hadn't wanted it to, and that was due to her being terrified that he wouldn't say what she wanted him to.

"So, about the other night . . ."

Rachel had a slurp of her coffee to distract herself from his comment, though it was pointless, it was all she could think about. "What about it?"

"I just thought we could talk about it while we're on our own, before the kids get back . . ."

"Oh . . . Right . . ."

"That bad was it?"

Rachel shook her head "no, it was good . . . I mean . . ." she hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "I don't think I am going to be able to say anything without it sounding . . . Suggestive."

Finn laughed quietly and then answered "I know but I don't think ignoring it is going to do either of us any good is it?"

"I'm not sure acknowledging it will either . . ." Rachel mumbled.

"How do you feel about it?"

Rachel swallowed hard, her fear was that Finn would let her know just how big a mistake what had happened was though she felt quite the opposite. The worry of him doing that was one thing but she wasn't sure that she could deal with him finding the words to say it, so, she got in their first. He was married after all and she couldn't imagine him suddenly wanting to turn their relationship into something more after one night, when he had been with Maria for a number of years. "I know what you're going to say . . . It was a mistake."

"Was I?"

"Finn, you're married."

Finn swallowed, yes he was married but after what had happened with Rachel he knew that he didn't love Maria or want to be with her. He guessed that deep down he had known it for a little while but had got on with things for his son, but now Rachel was around the way he felt about the situation was different, so much different. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to be with her and that he would walk away from his marriage, and even though he didn't think Rachel meant what she had said it was enough to make him bottle out of confessing his true feelings to her. "I know . . ." he paused, unsure of what he was supposed to say. One thing he was worried about was upsetting Rachel, not being with her how he wanted to be was one thing but losing her friendship altogether was another. "I just didn't want there to be any hard feeling's, you know . . . If Maria comes back and you're standing here . . ."

Rachel nodded, having another sip of her coffee as her heart sank at his words, "don't worry, I'm not going to jump you."

Finn would have laughed if the situation he now found himself in wasn't so far from what he really wanted to be happening. "Are you still comfortable staying here?"

Rachel frowned "what do you mean?"

"Well . . . After this?"

Rachel sighed quietly "well I guess we had to talk about it sooner or later . . ."

"Yeah, yeah I guess we did . . ."

Rachel forced a small smile before finishing what was left of her coffee. She then placed the cup down gently on the table and spoke to Finn once more. "I think it's time we went to pick up the babies . . ."

Finn nodded in agreement "yeah, yeah I think it is."

Rachel got up and picked up her coat, she knew that if she had been alone in her room then she wouldn't have done so well at keeping her emotions under control, but she knew that breaking down in front of Finn wouldn't help the situation in the slightest. As Finn walked around the table he reached out and wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders. She smiled, and decided in that moment that even though they might not be able to be together how she wanted, she would rather have him in her life as her friend rather than not at all. Finn squeezed her to him gently and Rachel spoke up as they stepped out of the house. "Oh, I think I better let you know . . . I promised Abigail she could make cakes today . . ."

Finn smiled "well who am I to make you break your promise," Rachel smiled and then laughed when Finn next spoke. "But, on a scale of one to ten, how messy will she be?"

" Erm, probably about fifteen . . ."

Finn raised his eyebrow a little

"I'm not even exaggerating . . ."

"So I might have to out my hand in my pocket to pay April for a bit of over-time?"

Rachel smirked and nodded, causing Finn to laugh.

On getting into the car, Dom didn't ask where they were going, as he knew. Rachel got in one side and Finn got to the other, they both sat down and put their seat belts on before turning to share a small smile. As they settled into the back of the car, Rachel felt her knee touch Finn's and neither of them made an effort to move.


	12. Chapter 12

**If you're wondering why it's took me so long to write the next chapter, it's because I'm back in America. Therefore I doubt I'll be putting much British Soap Characters names into this fic. Also I saw the Teen Choice Awards last night, I admire Lea SO much for that, she's one of the bravest and strongest people out there. I'm so glad she knows she has all our love & support. Her speech left me in tears, I'm so glad she won and that glee won also. Blake Jenner and Chord Overstreet also picked up awards for Glee. Overall Glee did get alot of awards, I'm just upset that Cory wasn't there to witness them. Anyway, enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW. **

On getting back to the house after picking Abigail and little Finn up, Finn had decided that him and his son would join Rachel and Abigail in baking. They were now in the kitchen where Rachel was mixing the cake mix after Finn had tried and failed, only proceeding to spray it all over. "You know, I think you've made more mess than the kids"

"I think you're talking rubbish"

Rachel laughed and shook her head a little "do you think you could manage to melt some chocolate?"

"I can work a microwave"

"So that'd be a no then. Don't use the microwave it ruins it, I've tried and tested it. Use hot water"

"Yes boss" he smirked and mock saluted before went into the cupboard to get out two bowls, one smaller than the other.

Abigail ran across the kitchen and into the back of Finn's legs at the mere mention of chocolate, "I help you Finn?"

"Course you can sweetheart" he smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist to lift her, sitting her on the kitchen top. "We have to be careful though, so we don't burn ourselves."

Abigail nodded "where chocolate?" she shrugged, throwing her little arms up as she spoke. "It gone?"

Finn chuckled and shook his head. "No it's in the fridge, I'll get it in a minute darlin'"

Abigail nodded once "darlin'"

Rachel laughed quietly from where she was standing and couldn't help but find how Finn acted around Abigail adorable. Oh she had it bad, and she knew it. She turned around and was about to say something over in their direction when little Finn wandered back into the kitchen and she smiled, holding one hand out to him which he toddled over to take. "Do you want to help?"

He nodded and Rachel smiled, lifting him up onto the work surface as Finn had done only moments before with Abigail. After putting down the whisk that she had been mixing with, Rachel dipped her finger into the bowl before holding it out to Finn. "Here, taste"

He hesitated for a moment before leaning forward and tasting the cake mix Rachel had offered to him. "mmmm"

Rachel smiled "nice?"

Finn nodded "tasty"

"Did I do a good job?"

"Yeah" he grinned, "I have some more?"

Rachel nodded and allowed him to dip his finger in the bowl, doing the same herself.

When Abigail shouted over to them, Rachel couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips, "mama, stop eating all that"

"It's very tasty"

"No mama you stop or I shout at you."

"Yeah mama . . ." Finn smirked

Rachel raised her eyebrow a little "but out you."

Finn laughed and after getting the chocolate he let Abigail help him break it up and put it into a bowl that was sitting in the hot water he had filled the bigger bowl with so that it would melt. Rachel was helping Finn with spooning the cake mix into cases, holding her hand over his as they put it in. "Do they take a long time?"

Rachel shook her head "no, not too long sweetheart. Are you going to decorate one for your daddy?"

Finn nodded "yeah, I decorate one for you?"

Rachel smiled and nodded "yeah if you want to"

Finn grinned before returning to spooning the mix from the bowl into the cases with her.

Once Rachel had put the cake mix into the oven she laughed at Abigail who was covered in a mixture of flour and chocolate. "I think someone needs a bath"

"No, we do cakes"

"They need to cook and then cool down baby, have a bath while they do that, yeah?"

Abigail nodded and held her arms out to Rachel who picked her up and held her on her hip. "I'll just go and put her in the bath while they cook Finn."

He nodded "I think I'm going to do the same with Finn Jr . . ."

Rachel smiled and turned to walk out of the kitchen when Finn placed his hand on her arm. "The button at the side of the bath . . . Press it when she's in there . . ."

Rachel frowned "why?"

"Just trust me . . ."

"She might soak the place"

Finn laughed "it's fine, you'd think a couple of swimmers had been in the bathroom when he's been in." Finn gestured to his son with a nod.

Rachel smiled "thanks again, Finn . . ."

"I've told you that you don't need to thank me . . ."

Rachel gave a small smile and after a moment she turned around and went upstairs into the room that she was staying in with Abigail. She filled the bath with warm water and sat down at the side of it. One she had undressed Abigail she lifted her into the water. "Big bath mama"

"I know, do you like it?"

Abigail nodded and sat down in the bath "we stay with Finn now?"

"For a little while"

"Is Finn my daddy now?"

Rachel gave a sad smile and shook her head, running her hand over Abigail's hair gently "no sweetheart, Finn is just our friend."

"But I like him more than daddy" Abigail pouted.

Rachel nodded "me too baby, me too." Rachel pushed her hair back gently and sighed, running her tongue over her teeth as she tried to rid all thoughts of Brody from her mind. She knew that if she could have she would have wiped away Abigail's memories of him too. "Here should we try this?" Rachel questioned in the hope of changing the subject of conversation, gesturing to the button that was at the side of the bath.

"What does it do?"

"I don't know . . ."

"I press it?"

"Yeah go on then"

Abigail stepped through the water and over to where the white button was, hesitating for a moment before she pressed it. After she had, a low rumbling noise came from the bath which made her panic and turn to go straight back to Rachel. "I no like it mama, get out"

Rachel lifted her so that she was sitting on the edge of the bath with her back against her chest. "Wait a minute baby, keep your legs in" Abigail held onto Rachel's arm that was around her waist as though her life depended in it, but when the bath began to bubble from the jets that were in it and noise subsided, Abigail frowned and Rachel smiled. It then became apparent that Finn had suggested she try out the jacuzzi/whirlpool option in the bath for Abigail.

"Makes bubbles"

"Yeah, do you want to get back in?"

Rachel hesitated for a moment before nodding "I touch them"

Rachel smiled and nodded as Abigail moved to get back into the bath, putting her hands out to place over one of the jets, giggling as it bubbled the water under her hands. "I love dis bath mama, we get one?"

"If we with the lottery"

"Deal" Abigail grinned, and Rachel couldn't help laughing at her daughter's lack of understanding in regards to what she had said.

Twenty minutes later and Abigail was still playing in the bath after having her hair washed. Rachel was soaking wet from sitting by her daughter as she played, her excitement over the bath still not having subsided. Rachel leaned over to take a towel from the heated rail and held it out to Abigail who pouted and shook her head. "No mama, not yet . . ."

"Yes Abigail, now"

"5 more minutes?"

"We said that ten minutes ago."

"Pretty please"

"If you get out now, I might let you get in again tomorrow . . ."

Abigail hesitated for a moment, considering Rachel's offer before she walked to the side of the bath before Rachel wrapped her in the towel and picked her up.

"It's warm an' toasty"

Rachel laughed, "Is it?"

Abigail nodded and wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck as she carried her into the bedroom. After drying her off she changed her into a little lemon colored onesie and dried her hair as she sat on her lap. After doing so, she turned around with Abigail and carried her downstairs. When she stepped into the kitchen Finn laughed. "Did you get a bath with your clothes on?"

"Oh you're funny"

"So she liked the bath then"

"Once the noise had stopped yeah, she'd have been in that all night if I'd have let her."

Finn smiled "why don't you go get a bath while I decorate the cakes with these two?"

"You don't mind?"

Finn shook his head "no go on" he held his hands out to take Abigail, and Rachel ruffled her hair gently. "Try to keep her as clean as you can."

Finn smiled and nodded as Rachel turned around and wandered out of the kitchen, going upstairs to get a bath herself. She filled the bath with water and turned it onto a higher setting than it had been on when Abigail was in the bath so the bubbles came out faster. She undressed and stepped in before lying down, a relaxed sigh rolling from her lips as she tried to remember the last time that she felt as she did at that moment in time. Rachel knew that there was still a lot she needed to sort out but now that herself and Abigail had somewhere to stay and she had a job, she hoped that it would be easier to sort out than she had thought it would be the previous day. She wished that things were different with Finn but she knew that he was married and that she had been the one who had first deemed what had happened a mistake, so could hardly blame him for his reaction. However she hadn't meant what she had said in the slightest and little things that had happened between them since their talk had made her suspect that he felt the same as she did about what had been said, though she was trying not to get her hopes up in fear of being wrong.

In the kitchen, Finn had put a little apron on little Finn and Abigail and had given them some cakes to decorate. There was bowls of chocolate, smarties, marshmallows, hundreds and thousands and Haribo sweets for them to use. Finn walked over to where little Finn was standing and smiled as he picked up a Haribo sweet to place onto the melted chocolate. "Are you having fun son?"

Finn nodded "I like Rachel"

"So do I"

"Abigail too?"

Finn smiled and nodded "are you going to make me one?"

Little Finn nodded "yeah, make Rachel one too?"

Finn nodded with a smile before he turned around and walked over to where Abigail was standing. "Hello little Miss . . ."

"'Ello Finn, I like your baff"

Finn smiled "did you have fun?"

Abigail nodded "my mama likes you"

"I like your mama too"

"She said you not my daddy but I like you more"

"I like you too" Finn smiled, a little unsure of what to say in response to Abigail's first comment.

"Don't like my daddy"

Finn wasn't sure whether he had done the right thing in asking Abigail more, but he found the question was out of his mouth before he had the chance to stop it. "Why not?"

"He hits mama, like dis?" Abigail flung her arm out to imitate a punch, her hand curled into a little fist.

Finn paled, hesitating before he answered this time, "well it's just you and your mummy now isn't it?"

"You and Finn too?"

Finn smiled and nodded and decided to change the subject, gesturing to the cake Abigail had placed in front of her. "Who is this for?"

"Mama"

Rachel had got out of the bath after a nice soak and had put on a pink nighty, deciding to just leave her hair damp. On getting to the kitchen she had been outside of the door when Abigail had spoken her name and it caused her to pause before she stepped inside.

Finn smiled "what are you going to put on it?"

Abigail shrugged "I no know"

"A heart?" Finn suggested.

"Heart?"

He nodded "a heart means love"

"We love mama?"

Finn smiled and nodded "yeah, yeah we do . . ." He leaned over and began helping Abigail create the shape of a heart on the top of the cake.

Outside of the door Rachel felt her heart flutter when Finn spoke and she knew immediately that she felt the same way, though she doubted whether she would have the guts to tell him. She waited for a moment and tried to get her heart rate to return to normal before she opened the door and stepped through into the kitchen, pretending that she had come straight down from the bath. "Hey, are you having fun?"

Abigail nodded "I make you dis mama" she turned around and handed her the cake which caused Rachel to smile.

"Thank you" she took it from her gently and had a bite "mmmm, it's lovely . . ."

Abigail picked one up and began eating it as Finn passed his dad one and then picked up one for himself.

After eating the cakes, Rachel made Abigail brush her teeth before lying with her as she settled in bed with a bottle of warm milk. Rachel picked up the bottle when she was sure Abigail wouldn't be disturbed if she moved and turned around to leave the room, flicking on the night light as she left. She descended the stairs and smiled as she walked into the kitchen to find Finn, holding out a glass of wine to her. "Oh, thank you. Both kids down by seven, I think that's quite and achievement." Rachel smiled, having a sip of the drink before following Finn into the living room.

Finn sat downing the couch and gestured for Rachel to do the same, nodding in agreement at what she had said. "I know, I think they had fun though"

"Me too, we made far too many cakes though"

Finn laughed, "oh I'm sure they'll get eaten . . ." he smiled and paused for a moment before speaking up again, though this time his voice was a little more serious than it previously had been. "If I ask you something do you promise not to go mad?"

Rachel frowned "why would I?"

"Just . . . Do it . . ."

Rachel hesitated for a moment before nodding, "alright . . ."

"Who's Abigail's dad?"

Rachel swallowed hard, "why?"

"I'm just asking . . ."

"No you're not, if you were just asking you would have done long before now."

"Did he hit you?" The question was out before Finn had even had chance to process it fully and when Rachel paled considerably he had his answer without her having to say anything.

Rachel shook her head a little before getting up, "I'm going to bed . . ." she mumbled and placed her glass on the side before heading towards the door, though was stopped when Finn's hand held her arm gently.

"Please don't walk away from me . . ."

"I can't do this . . ."

"Hey, hey . . ." Finn turned Rachel around and ran the back of his hand down her cheek gently. "I care about you so much and I want to help you but I can't if I don't know what's gone on . . ." he whispered.

"I've never told anyone . . ."

"If you're worried I'll tell someone . . ." he shook his head, finishing his sentence with the gesture.

Rachel shook her head a little to let him know that he didn't think he would without having to say anything, and after a small pause she spoke up once more, this time about what it was that was worrying her. "I don't know where to start . . ."

"Just start at the beginning . . ."

"It's a long story . . ." Rachel whispered, the haunted expression she wore causing Finn to feel sick to the stomach.

"If you're hoping that's going to put me off, you're wrong . . ."

Finn dropped his hand from Rachel's cheek and reached down to take her hand, picking up her drink with his other as he led her gently back to the couch. Rachel sat down and Finn passed her back her glass of wine before sitting back down beside her again, placing his hand over her's, giving it a gentle squeeze as he waited for her to speak.

**Review? Thankyou. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the next chapter. I was debating weather to upload this or not, but here you go. There's alot of confessions in it and there's alot of hugging. Please review, criticism is also taken well.**

Rachel swallowed hard, not only did she not know where to start in telling Finn what had happened to her, she felt sick at the thought of unleashing the secrets of her marriage to someone else. Rachel shifted on the couch though she had no reason to be uncomfortable and the wine in the glass that she was holding made her stomach churn at the mere thought of swallowing it. She swallowed hard and was grateful when Finn didn't speak or push her to. She wasn't sure she would have ever been ready to tell anyone what had happened but she trusted Finn with her life and what he had said to her kept coming to the front of her mind.

"I want to help you but I can't if I don't know what's gone on . . ."

She wanted him to be able to help her, he had done so much for her already and she hoped that if he could help with this she might be able to try and live with it. Rachel knew that she could never forget about what had happened but carrying the secret on her own was something that was getting harder and harder by the day. "Just start from the beginning . . ." Rachel thought, mentally repeating what Finn had said to her, to herself. When she felt Finn give her hand another squeeze it was almost like he was telling her that he wasn't going anywhere without him having to say anything and the comfort of his thumb stroking over the skin on the back of her hand helped her to begin re-telling the painful and harrowing story that was her life.

"I lived with my mum on a council estate in Liverpool, we moved there when I was four and my brother was two. My brother had just been sent to prison for armed robbery and my dad had been gone for ages. He was an alcoholic. My brother got involved in a robbery to try to get some money to pay off my mum's debts to drug dealers. She used to deal around the estate and she owed them around £5, 000."

Finn frowned, "isn't drug dealing supposed to make you money?"

"You would think so, but she was using some of what she was supposed to be selling so she wasn't making enough on the amount of drugs that she was getting. So she ended up owing them money and she couldn't pay it back. She was selling it for the big boys, and by big boys I mean ones who thought they were some kind of American gangster when none of them had made it out of Liverpool." she laughed bitterly and shook her head a little as she leant back into the couch gently. "So when Rob went to prison I had just left school and I was in and out of different jobs like office work and in shops and stuff to try and keep the house going and put food on the table." Rachel chewed on her bottom lip a little and swallowed, deliberately putting of getting to the point of her life that she knew Finn was waiting for her to tell him about. "Then when I was seventeen, I was working in a shop that was paying peanuts when a job came up in a bar that was opening. It was a half an hour journey away from where I lived and the money was really good. It was a swanky exclusive-ish place and so I went for it, and I got the job. But, I lied to them and told them that I was eighteen when I wasn't for another six months. I worried about it at first but I just told them I'd never worked in a bar before and I was shown what to do."

"Did they ever find out?" Finn asked.

"I'm getting to it . . ." Rachel whispered, swallowing a mouthful of wine before she continued, deciding that she needed whatever courage she could get to continue what she had started. "I had been there about four months and over time the woman who was the manager of the bar was being a cow to me and we ended up fighting this one night, she said something about me that I didn't appreciate so I lamped her." Finn smirked and Rachel kinked her eyebrow a little. "It was a good shot . . ."

Finn laughed quietly "I don't doubt it . . ." he smiled, his thumb still stroking the back of her hand.

"So we had this fight and the night it happened the guy that owned the club was in and the guy that owned it is Abigail's dad." Rachel sighed, paling considerably at the mere mention of him. "So anyway, we got a bollocking and all the rest of it but after she'd gone he told me he knew I wasn't old enough to be working in a club and I persuaded him to let me carry on working there. I don't know how he knew but I told him two more months wasn't a lot after working there for four and he agreed. I had a drink with him and then went to finish my shift. Then after that he would invite me to stay back for a drink with him, he paid for my cabs to and from work so that I didn't have to wait around for busses, he'd send me gifts and I thought he was a nice guy. I was flattered, a businessman who was doing well for himself interested in me . . . The only people that had been interested before then were old druggies my mum used to have in the house while she was getting high." Rachel sighed and shrugged gently.

Finn silently wondered how Rachel could speak of what had happened so plainly, for a moment he wondered whether she understood how horrifying it really was and whether she thought otherwise having been brought up with it. However, her expression told him that she probably did but was trying to play it down and it broke his heart. "Does he have a name?" Finn asked, considering trying to find the man who had caused Rachel such hurt.

Rachel nodded "Brody . . ."

"How old was he?"

"27 then, he's 31 now . . ."

Finn's jaw clenched and Rachel knew that he was trying his best to keep his emotions under control. She squeezed his hand this time and he squeezed hers in return. "What happened next sweetheart?"

Rachel swallowed hard and pulled her legs up onto the couch before she continued to let him into her deepest and darkest secret. "It was like that for the following couple of months and then for my eighteenth birthday he closed down the club and threw me a party. Invited my mum and everyone that we knew for me to celebrate with and it was a really good night . . . Until my mum passed out after she'd taken . . ." Rachel shrugged gently and shook her head. "I don't even know what it was."

"A drug?"

Rachel nodded, "yeah, a drug. I think it was cocaine, but I'm not sure . . ."

Finn nodded and Rachel continued, "I was upset, so Brody took me and my mum back home and he stayed while I put her to bed. I asked him to stay for a drink, which he did . . . Then he come onto me, and I panicked . . ." Finn frowned and Rachel stuttered as she struggled to find the words to say to try and make him understand what she meant. "Finn, I was from an estate on which the girls of eighteen had been with five or six people and had had one if not two kids by them, and I'd never . . . I didn't . . ." She swallowed and sighed, becoming angry with herself as she struggled to find the right words for what she was trying to tell Finn.

Finn sensed that Rachel was struggling and he thought that he knew what she was going to say anyway, so he tried to help her out. "You were a Virgin, so you panicked?"

Rachel felt herself blush as she nodded in answer to Finn.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about that you know?"

Rachel raised her eyebrow a little and Finn wrapped his arm around her, pulling her a little closer to him as he fell silent and waited for her to continue. "I slept with him that night and that was the start of our relationship. A month into the relationship I fell pregnant. At first I was upset but I knew I could have never have gotten rid of the baby, so I told him and it was a week later when I moved in with him and a month after that we were married. He seemed pleased about things but when we went for my scan where you find out the sex of the baby, when he found out it was a girl he seemed to lose interest and it was from that point on that things started to go downhill."

"Downhill?"

Rachel swallowed hard and nodded.

"Why did he lose interest?"

"He wanted a boy"

"Did he say that?"

Rachel nodded, "not at the scan but in an argument just after I'd had her he did. He had always been . . . Possessive, but things just got worse . . ."

"Possessive?"

Rachel nodded, "he told me on more than one occasion that he wouldn't stand for me being with anyone else and that I was his. We went out with his friends quite a lot and he would make comments about what I was wearing or something and embarrass me."

"So he thought of you as something that belonged to him?"

"I guess . . ."

Finn grit his teeth together and tried to suppress the growing anger he felt towards a man that he had never met. He took a deep breath before speaking again, knowing that for him to let his emotions get the better of him was the last thing that Rachel needed at that moment in time when she was finding talking to him hard enough. "When did he start hitting you?" he questioned softly, hoping that she wouldn't shut down on him, though grateful that she had told him so much at the same time.

Rachel leant forwards a little and rested her arms on her thighs as she answered him, bowing her head a little. "He threw a glass at me two days before I had Abigail and when I went into labor he left me for two hours before he called at ambulance. But he didn't physically hit me until she was a month old."

"What? What if something had happened while you were in labour, did he not care about that?"

"He was angry at me"

"Why?"

"His friend had visited and I'd met him a couple of times and he seemed nice enough, so he talked to Brody and then talked to me for a little while. So when he was leaving I gave him a hug and he felt my bump when Abigail was kicking."

"Right . . ."

"What was why . . ."

Finn shook his head a little and sighed, taking in a breath once more as his muscles rippled under the shirt he was wearing as his fists clenched. Though when he turned to Rachel his anger quickly turned to sympathy and he sighed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to give her a gentle squeeze, his hand still holding her own. "Why did you stay with him?"

"Well, he would apologize and the first couple of times I hoped that he meant it and I wanted to think that he did. But, with me doing that it allowed him to carry on. I wanted to make it work for Abigail more than anything else. That's the deal isn't it? A child gets a mum and a dad, but when it was made plain to me that he wasn't going to change I told him that I was going to leave . . ." She swallowed hard, "I ended up unable to move out of bed for a week, so I didn't try again."

Finn sighed; his emotions were all over the place. He wanted to meet this guy that Rachel was talking about and hurt him as he had hurt the woman that he cared much about and though he knew that he couldn't he wanted to wipe away all of the hurt that she had suffered before moving. "So you were with him for three years?"

"Almost four . . ."

Finn sighed, "you don't have anything to feel bad about Rachel, it was not your fault what happened."

"When you are told that 24/7 it is you start to think it's true."

"Do you trust me?"

Rachel nodded "of course I do."

"I'm telling you that it wasn't." He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently which caused Rachel to let a small smile tug at the corners of her lips.

There was a couple of moments of quiet between the two of them before Finn spoke up once again, his voice giving away how unsure he was about what he was about to ask. "So if you didn't tell him that you were leaving, how did you get away?"

"I just went . . ."

"What?"

"I just ran with Abigail, the night I ran was the worst night with him and I knew if I didn't get out I'd be leaving in a body bag. So, I did what I needed to . . . Which leads me to my confession . . ."

Finn frowned, "confession?"

"My second name isn't Roberts . . . It's Weston . . ."

"Is that your married or maiden name?"

"Married . . . My maiden name is Berry . . ."

"Can I get a cuddle, Miss Berry?"

"Always, Mr. Hudson . . ." Rachel whispered, a small smile on her lips once again at his choice to use her maiden name.

Finn smiled and wrapped his arm around Rachel's waist before pulling her onto his lap. He sat back against the couch and Rachel sat sideways on him before leaning against his chest gently, she played with one of the buttons on his shirt, her forehead touching the side of his neck. "Did he hit you regularly?" Finn whispered, kissing the side of her head as he waited for her reply.

"When he drank he was worse" she shrugged, "he was always really unpredictable though, I would never know when he was going to but after he started I don't think it ever went longer than two weeks between him kicking off."

Finn sighed and ran his hand over her hair gently, "I'm so sorry . . ."

Rachel frowned, "why?"

"For what you've been through"

"It wasn't your fault . . ."

"Well if it has anything to do with me he won't come anywhere near you ever again . . ."

"I hope you're right, I don't know what I'd do if he found me . . ."

"Hey, don't think like that . . ."

"It's hard . . ."

"I know . . ." Finn whispered, and moved his hand under Rachel's hair to stroke the skin on the back of her neck while she continued to play with one of the buttons on his shirt, rolling it between her thumb and index finger. It was around ten minutes later when Finn next spoke, and though he was terrified of what her answer would be to his question he knew that he needed to ask. "Rachel . . . Did he ever do more than hit you?"

Rachel tensed against her will as soon as the question had left Finn's lips, she knew what he was trying to ask without having to say the word and it made her sick. it had been hard enough telling him what she had but talking about that was something different altogether. It was seconds before she made to get up off his lap but his arm around her waist stopped her.

"Rachel please don't walk away from me, tell me to shut up and I will but please don't shut me out . . . I would never hurt you baby, you know that. I want to help you, to take care of you . . ."

Rachel stopped and wiped the back of her hand over her cheek furiously as a tear dripped down it. "I . . . I . . ."

Finn shook his head and shushed her as he pulled her close once more and held her to him, she hadn't answered his question but her reaction told him everything he needed to know and he had to use all of his power to stop himself from throwing up at the thought of her being forced into . . . That. Her fingers curled tightly around the material of his shirt as she spoke. "How could someone who could do that make that beautiful, perfect little girl up there?" As she finished speaking a sob that had been lodged in the back of her throat escaped and it was then that she was powerless to stop her cries.

"She is your baby Rachel, yours." Rachel held onto him a little more tightly as she continued to cry, now she had started she wasn't sure whether she would ever be able to stop. She cried for what had happened, for the effect it had had on Abigail, for what hadn't happened with Finn and for what had, and with the sheer terror she felt at the prospect of Brody finding her. Finn's hand held the back of her head and the other made gentle circles against her side as she sobbed. He kissed the side of her head every now and then and silently told himself that he would never let Brody Foster anywhere near Rachel again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you so much for the feedback you left on the last couple of chapters. It's lovely of you all. I would also like to thank everyone who has favourited or followed this story, as well as the people who have sent me private messages about it. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. :-)** **I've made a few changes, '****_Underworld_****' is now named '****_Hudson's_****' and Finn's got a new worker, Courteny. Enjoy!**

The following morning, Rachel woke in bed and let a small smile pass her lips as it dawned on her that Finn must have carried her to bed. The last memory that she had of the previous night was sitting on Finn's lap sobbing her heart out after telling him what had happened before she'd ran away from Brody. She guessed that she must've exhausted herself crying and all but passed out on him. However, the smile that had tugged at the corners of her mouth disappeared as she recalled the conversation that she'd had with Finn the night before. She needed to speak to him and she needed to know things weren't any different between them, though she couldn't help the niggling worry that she had that they would be. Rachel knew deep down that she loved Finn but she was finding it hard admitting it to herself given their situation. She knew that she loved Finn more than she ever had Brody, and she would have been lying if she'd said the strength of her feelings for him didn't scare her. Rachel felt sick at the thought of Finn treating her differently after what she had admitted to him but she knew there was nothing that she could do about it until she spoke to him.

She ran her hand over Abigail's back gently who had her head nestled into her neck, her arm flung over her chest and her leg over her waist. Rachel wanted to laugh at her daughter's starfish like shape but bit it back so that she didn't wake her. She climbed out of bed after peeling Abigail off her and once she had settled back into the bed Rachel walked through into the bathroom. She checked the time and when she found that she was up half an hour before she needed to be, she filled the bath with water and pressed the button on the side of it to set the jets off. Rachel then undressed and stepped into the bath, lying down in the warm water as she tried her best to relax.

Rachel let a small sigh pass her lips and it seemed that regardless of how hard she tried she couldn't rid herself of the thoughts of what Finn might or might not be thinking after their conversation the previous night. She was still feeling emotional about what had happened and guessed that was due to talking about what she'd been through, and by doing that bringing back a lot of unwanted memories. Rachel bent her knees a little and shifted in the bath so she was more comfortable and moments later she turned to find Abigail climbing into the bath, still in her pajamas. "Whoa, what are you doing baby?" Rachel laughed, reaching over to hold Abigail under her arms as she lifted her into the water. "You crazy child."

"No you crazy mama"

"No, you are" Rachel teased, a small smile playing on her lips as she mimicked her daughter.

"We have snuggles?" Abigail questioned, wrapping her arms around Rachel's neck to cuddle her as she stood at her side. "Love you mama"

"I love you too baby"

"We stay in here for a long time?"

"No baby, you have to go to nursery today."

"I no go, I stay here with you?"

"I have to go to work sweetheart . . ."

"I come to work with you . . . I help you?"

Rachel smiled "maybe when you're a little older"

Abigail nodded and stepped over to sit against one of the jets in the bath and giggled, causing Rachel to smile. However, when she began washing her hair Abigail moved over to her once more. "I wash your hair mama"

"If you want to"

Abigail moved to stand behind Rachel who tilted her head back a little. She moved her hands to Rachel's hair and began washing it gently as Rachel would have done her's and it made her smile. Spending time with Abigail helped her to forget about what had happened between herself and Finn the previous night though deep down she knew she would only be able to do that for so long.

After washing her hair Rachel got both herself and Abigail out of the bath and dried off before changing into a black shift dress for work. She tied her hair up into a ponytail before putting on some make-up and after doing so she picked up Abigail who had been bouncing all over the bed. Rachel dressed her into a pair of pale pink jeans with a white t-shirt and a pair of cute white shoes while she silently wondered where she got her energy from so early on a morning. She placed a pink bow in her hair and picked her up to hold on her hip. Once she slipped on a pair of stilettos and picked up her bag Rachel headed downstairs with her daughter. She swallowed hard before stepping into the kitchen, silently trying to think about what to say to Finn. However, when she stepped through the door and found Maria standing with Finn with her arms draped around his neck, her heart dropped. All of the things she had thought about saying to him fell away and after a lengthy pause, "Oh . . . Hi . . ." was all she could manage.

Maria turned to Finn with a raised eyebrow, "what is she doing here?"

Rachel swallowed, a small frown forming over her features, as she wondered why Finn hadn't told Maria that she was staying there. "I'll let you talk . . ." Rachel stated and turned to leave, but Finn stopped her when he spoke.

"No, you don't have to leave."

"It's fine . . ."

Rachel forced a small smile and threw a cream colored mac on before putting her bag over her shoulder to leave. Finn walked down the hall to her with little Finn and she gave Finn's hair a gentle ruffle. "Hey pal"

"Rachel would you take him to nursery for me, I need to talk to Maria . . ."

Rachel nodded and smiled at Finn once more before taking his hand, "come on darlin'"

"Dom will take you . . ." Finn told Rachel but all he got in response was a nod before Rachel got into the car with both kids. She passed Abigail a biscuit bar that she had grabbed when she'd been in the kitchen and though she knew that she probably should have given her a proper breakfast she knew she couldn't deal with Maria first thing on a morning, especially when she'd had no warning that she was due back. Finn and Abigail began chatting in their own little language while Rachel sat in the back of the car, her mind whirling with thoughts about what would happen from then on and if she would find herself homeless once more.

Finn stood on the doorstep of the huge house that he lived in and all he wanted to do was go and stop the car, pull Rachel to one side and check she was all right. However, knowing he couldn't do that was something he was finding so much more difficult that he had expected and found himself wishing Maria had stayed away longer. It was a thought which shocked him and at the same time didn't. He wanted to be with Rachel and though he knew it wouldn't be easy he knew that he wanted and needed to do whatever it took to make sure that she ended up with him.

On getting to nursery, Rachel had said bye to little Finn and Abigail and they were halfway down the path to go into nursery when Abigail came running back to Rachel. "I forgot kisses mama"

Rachel smiled and nodded, "good job you remembered"

Abigail tugged on Rachel's arm so that she leant down to her before she kissed her. "Bye bye mama"

"Have a good day baby." Rachel called, as her daughter ran off into the building.

It got to lunchtime and Rachel had decided to spend her's in the office at 'Hudson's'. She didn't feel much like socializing and she guessed if Maria had her way she would find herself with nowhere to stay sooner rather than later. She'd gotten herself a sandwich and a coffee before settling at the computer, opening up an Internet page to search for flats for rent in the nearby area. Rachel sighed as she scrolled through page after page of flats that were either too expensive or in areas she wouldn't feel remotely comfortable bringing Abigail up in. She was concentrating so much on what she was doing she hadn't known that Finn had entered the office and was sitting by the office desk on the opposite side to where she was. When Finn spoke, Rachel jumped and put her hand to her chest.

"What are you doing?"

"You idiot, you scared me"

Finn laughed quietly "sorry."

"It's not funny." Rachel had a sip of coffee before gesturing to the computer, "I'm trying to find somewhere to move to." She mumbled.

"I told you that you didn't have to do anything like that"

"I know, but I don't think Maria will be pleased if she finds out that I am staying much longer."

"I told you I would deal with her too . . ."

"Did you get to talk to her this morning?"

Finn sighed and shook his head, "no, I had a call about a meeting that I couldn't get out of."

"Oh . . ."

"Are Maria's feeling's really why you're moving out?"

Rachel gulped, "what other reason would there be?"

Before Finn could answer, Courteny walked through into the office with a cheery smile. "Oh, hello Mr Hudson I didn't know you were in today."

Finn smiled "Hello Courteny, just a quick visit"

"Do you need Rachel, I was just going to ask if she wanted to come for a drink?" she smiled.

"I need her." Finn stated and Rachel's heart fluttered at his words. I need you too, she thought.

"Oh, maybe another day then" she smiled "bye Rachel, Mr Hudson."

"Bye Courteny" Rachel called as Finn nodded in acknowledgement to the older lady.

"So . . ."

"So . . . What do you need me for?" Rachel raised her eyebrow a little while a small smirk tugged at the corners of her lips.

Finn leaned forward onto the desk a little, "oh wouldn't you like to know."

"That would by why I'm asking . . ."

"Behave yourself" Finn smirked before gesturing to the computer with a nod of his head. "So, have you found anywhere?"

Rachel shook her head, "nope"

"Good"

Rachel frowned, "well there was once place but it's way out of my price range."

"Show me?"

"You aren't going to go any buy it for me are you?"

Finn smirked and shook his head. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"What fun would that be?" Rachel teased before turning the computer around after getting the window up with the expensive flat that she liked showing. It was only a couple of streets away from where Finn lived and it was newly decorated. There were two bedrooms, a luxury bathroom and kitchen that seemed like they hadn't been in long and included all of the latest gadgets. "I'd love to live somewhere like that but it's too much."

"Well that just means you'll have to stay with me for a little bit longer . . ."

Rachel laughed a little and nodded, "yeah I guess it does."

"I've got to go so I'll speak to you at home later?"

"I wanted to talk to you . . . About last night . . ."

Finn nodded, "I know, later."

Rachel gave a small smile and nodded, accepting a kiss on the cheek from Finn before he left. Things seemed to be as they had been between the two of them and it was something that she was pleased about, though she still felt the need to talk to him about things. However, she knew that she would have to wait until the time was right and not knowing when that would be wasn't something that sat well with her.

For the rest of the afternoon, Rachel continued with her work and when it got to twenty minutes before she needed to set off to pick up Abigail from nursery, the yellow post-it note stuck to her computer reminded her that she needed to call and order in some more material for the following day. She finished the e-mail that she had been typing out before calling the number that was on the piece of paper that had been left by Hayley, ordering what was needed. Once she had done so she told her that she was leaving, before picking up her bag and her jacket to leave the factory for the day.

When Finn had left that morning he had left Maria seething that he had allowed Rachel to move into their house and to add to her anger he had left for a meeting rather than talking to her. She hadn't spoken to Finn throughout the day and she had no idea that he'd been to the office and had spoken to Rachel. Maria had already decided that she wanted Rachel out as soon as possible and if Finn wasn't going to make her leave then she was. When it got to two o clock she walked out of the house leaving April cleaning, getting into the car with Dom as he drove her to the nursery to pick up Finn. She had only been there waiting for ten minutes when Finn walked out and she smiled, picking him up to greet him while walking back to the car. Rachel was stood by the wall as she waited for Abigail and neither women acknowledged one another. Maria went back to the car and after putting Finn in she got back into it herself. "We're ready Dom . . ."

"Mr. Hudson usually waits for Rachel, Miss . . ."

"Well I'm not Mr. Connor am I? So drive."

Dom sighed, he knew better than to argue with Maria if he wanted to keep his job. He pulled away from the side of the road by the nursery despite wanting to wait for Rachel, hoping that she would be able to get back without too much hassle.

As the car pulled away, Rachel tutted to herself, she knew what Maria had done and that she was being deliberately awkward, through she hadn't expected anything else given their first encounter. She wondered how she would be reacting if she knew the whole truth about what had happened and though she didn't want to make Finn's life anymore difficult, she couldn't help wishing she did know so that she could give things with Finn a proper go. After telling him that they should forget about their night she'd found that it was all she could think about when she was on her own and she wished she hadn't said it. However, before she could think about it anymore, Abigail came running towards her. "I make you a present"

Rachel lifted Abigail as she ran to her and she frowned, "oh, have you? Where is it?"

"My bag"

"Are you going to show me?"

Abigail nodded and handed Rachel a piece of paper with a picture of the two of them with their arms wrapped around each other smiling placed in the centre, Abigail having decorated around the sides of it with glitter and sequins to make a kind of photo frame. "Dis"

"Oh baby, I love this"

She pointed to the photo, "Abigail and mama"

Rachel smiled, "I know. I think this needs to be stuck up on the wall in our room."

"Yeah . . ." Abigail grinned and Rachel kissed her on the cheek before beginning the walk home.

Before getting back to the house Maria made Dom stop off at Underworld, and after getting out of the car she walked through into the office. One thing that did bug her was that Rachel wasn't even working for a full day and she intended to take it up with Finn, it being to her, just another reason why Rachel shouldn't have the job. She was pleased to get inside and find the place empty and on getting into the office she ran her finger over some papers and silently tried to find something that would make Rachel's life difficult. She's just a council estate slapper, she thought and thoroughly intended to make sure she ended up back there.

Maria smirked when she found the post it note stuck onto the computer and after leaning over to the phone, she dialed the number that was written on it. When the phone was answered at the other end, she spoke. "Hello, I'm just ringing to ask whether an order was made for Underworld today? . . . It was? . . ." she smirked. "I'm calling to cancel it, we've got a newbie in and she was told not to carry out the order . . . I'm sorry for wasting your time." Maria hung up the phone and then turned on her heel to walk out of the office and eventually the factory. After locking the door she walked back to the car and settled into the back of it while Dom continued the journey home.

Back at the house Rachel had just arrived and on getting inside Abigail dropped her bag onto the floor and ran through into the kitchen where Finn was standing, "hello trouble" he smiled and picked her up.

"Hello"

Rachel put Abigail's bag on one of the coat hooks before wandering through into the kitchen herself.

"Where's Finn?"

"Maria picked him up"

"Yeah . . ."

"She picked him up with Dom, I walked home with Abigail"

Finn frowned "why?"

"I just did"

"I go play?" Abigail questioned and Finn let her down as Rachel answered.

"Come put this up with me first?" Rachel held her hand out to Abigail and smiled when she took it. The pair of them headed down the hall and upstairs into their room, leaving Finn leant against the side in the kitchen.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello! I've took a ****_long_**** needed break but now I'm back and I'm going to be uploading ALOT more, I want to thank you all for supporting me and this fanfic! Love you all & enjoy :-) x.**

Rachel and Abigail had bathed and were settled in bed. Rachel had let Abigail put cartoons on for a little while but about ten minutes into having them on there was shouting from Finn and Maria that had come from downstairs. She swallowed hard, guessing that they would be arguing about her and as much as she didn't want to cause more trouble for Finn she didn't want to move out either. Rachel sighed and pulled Abigail close as she tried to ignore what might or might not be going on downstairs between the man she loved and his wife.

Downstairs, after April had left, Maria had gone into the kitchen where Finn had been on his laptop and had slammed it shut before declaring that she wanted to talk to him, a discussion that had quickly become heated.

"I don't want her here, Finn, I don't know why you can't understand that and I can't imagine why you would think that I wouldn't have a problem with you moving her in behind my back."

"I tried to call you to let you know before you came back, you didn't answer your phone."

"I was away with my mum, I wasn't expecting you to move in any little tarts to my home."

"Our home, and she isn't a tart."

"Why are you defending her?"

"You're making such a huge issue about this when you don't need to. Rachel is here until she finds somewhere else and for no longer than that. I'm helping out a friend like you helped out Fiz when you let her stay here for a couple of weeks, like you would help out any of your friends if you needed to and you would not expect me to go on like you are now."

"But I didn't move a man in who was trying to get into my bed." Maria shouted.

She's not trying to, she has, Finn thought. "Oh stop it Maria, you are over-reacting."

"She's not even your friend, you've known her for two minutes."

"It's long enough, I get on well with her."

"I don't."

"So? Make more of an effort with her. You can't tell me you've given her a fair chance, as soon as you met her you made it quite plain that you didn't like her. The incident at the office in Hudson's for example, you had no right going in there and doing that."

"I am your wife Finn."

"Yes you are, but that doesn't mean that you can treat people how you want."

"She doesn't belong here."

"No, so where does she belong then?"

"On the grimy council estate she came from," Maria snapped and Finn shook his head a little. Maria had never done a hard day's work in her life and she was acting like a spoilt brat about Rachel staying with them for a couple of days and after the knowledge that he had just found out about what had happened to Rachel he found himself just wanting to go upstairs and into the room she was in to hold her.

"Don't ever say that to me ever again."

"You wouldn't be getting so angry about this situation if you didn't care about her more than you're admitting."

"I don't agree with how you're talking about her, you don't have to make it into something more," Finn snapped.

"If she doesn't move out, I am going to."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Even that won't make you get rid of her."

Finn pushed his hair back with his hand before letting out an angry sigh, shaking his head a little as he tried to get through to his wife. She made him so angry sometimes; it was like she thought the whole world revolved around her. He knew that it had when she had been a child and had lived with her parents, and for a while he did whatever she wanted, but not now. Though he hadn't told her yet there was only one person other than his son that was at the centre of his world now and it wasn't the woman standing in front of him. "No, there is no need for me to. Give it a couple of days and she'll have found somewhere else. You have clicked your fingers and you think that you should get whatever you want immediately, and until now that's happened. Well, you're going to have to wait this time. I am not asking her or telling her to go anywhere." Finn snapped.

"So you care more about her feelings than mine?"

"Right at this moment in time, yes."

The words were out before he had chance to stop them and he sighed when Maria turned around and left the kitchen, leaving Finn regretting what he had said. However, what he had said was the truth, he found himself caring more about Rachel as each second passed but he knew saying what he had to Maria had been the wrong thing for him to do. For a second Finn considered going after Maria to try and talk to her but with knowing how angry she was he decided against it. He sat down in one of the kitchen chairs at the table and sighed heavily, wondering how he was going to get out of the situation that he now found himself.

Finn wasn't sure how long he had been sitting in the kitchen just thinking about what had happened between himself and Maria, as well as what had happened in general over the past couple of days. He guessed that he must have been sitting there for a while, as it was now dark outside. Absentmindedly he thought about Maria and where she was, though he couldn't bring himself to go to try and find her. Finn sighed once more at how hard things were, but he was brought out of his thoughts when voices sounded from the hallway. He moved to stand by the door and it was seconds before he recognized the voices as Dom and Rachel.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for earlier . . ."

Rachel frowned, "why would you be sorry?"

"Well I would have waited for you . . . I just . . ."

Rachel nodded and interrupted him before he could finish, "I know, I know why. Don't worry about it. At least it wasn't raining . . ."

Dom smiled and hesitated for a moment before speaking again, stuttering a little as he did. It almost made Rachel laugh, coming from such a big guy it sounded mad to her. "I . . . I erm . . . I was . . . I was just wondering if I could take you out for a drink sometime."

"As a friend, or?"

Dom smiled shyly "the or . . ."

Rachel let a small smile pass her lips but before she could answer, Finn walked down the hall to the pair of them. "Dom can I have a word?" he questioned, his tone a little sharper than usual.

"Yeah, of course," he frowned, walking of to one side with him as Rachel walked through into the kitchen to get herself a drink.

"I don't pay you to flirt with the people that live here, Dom. Have you sorted out that car yet?"

He sighed, "no, it's too late to do anything now and I was only asking her for a drink. I don't think she's going to be up for it now anyway."

"Try and have that sorted for in the morning," Finn mumbled, referring to the car as he walked back up to the kitchen, closing the door to so that he and Rachel were on their own.

Rachel sat down at the kitchen table with the glass of milk that she'd jut poured herself when Finn closed the door and crossed one leg over the other as she pulled her nighty down over her legs a little further. "I take talking to Maria didn't go to well?"

Finn sat down opposite Rachel and sighed after shaking his head. "No, it didn't. She's stormed off and I've not spoken to her since."

"Is having me here really worth all of this trouble?"

Finn nodded, "and more"

Rachel smiled, "oh you charmer" she teased, hesitating for a moment before she spoke again. "I wanted to get you on your own . . ."

Finn raised his eyebrow with a smirk, "oh yeah?"

"don't get too excited, I just wanted to talk . . ."

Finn laughed quietly before nodding, "about last night?"

Rachel nodded

Finn frowned, "I thought you might . . ." he offered a supportive smile before speaking again, "what about it?"

"Do you think of me differently?"

"Why would I?" Finn wanted to tell her that he loved her more than he had done before he'd found out what she had been through but he knew that probably wasn't the best thing to say, at least not at that moment in time.

"Well, I . . . After what happened between us and everything . . . I thought you might regret it . . ."

"I didn't regret it the morning after, why would I now?"

"Well . . . I'm damaged . . ." Rachel whispered, her voice cracking with emotion as she spoke.

Finn reached over the table to take her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, shaking his head. "Rachel you are the bravest, most beautiful person. I've ever met, all that bastard did to you does not change any of that."

"You're really special you are, do you know that?"

Finn smirked and nodded, "yeah . . ."

Rachel laughed and shook her head at him before raising her glass of milk to her lips to have a drink.

"Here, I was thinking, you know that we were talking about taking the kids to the beach for the day?" Rachel nodded, "well how do you fancy doing it at the weekend, I haven't got anything planned and I think after this week a day away might be what I need."

"I think that sounds like a plan, though I will have to check Abigail approves before a say for sure."

Finn smirked, "of course . . ."

"But I think she will . . ."

Finn smiled and nodded, "it's a date then."

"I don't know about that . . ." Rachel smiled and finished off the milk that was in her glass, getting up to put the now empty glass in the sink before speaking to Finn once more. "I think I better go up to bed, it's getting on a bit now . . ."

As she walked to the door Finn couldn't help admiring her legs. He knew that she was the one he wanted and not the woman he was married to. Before he had the chance to stop himself or talk himself out of what he was about to do, he took Rachel's hand to stop her from walking out of the kitchen and stood up. Finn pulled Rachel's hand gently so that she was standing close to him, their chests lightly touching, he moved his hands to either side of her head and Rachel's breath hitched in her throat. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Something that I've wanted to do since the other night . . ." he answered before letting his lips touch hers.

It was seconds before Rachel responded to Finn's kiss, stepping a little further into his embrace as his tongue found hers. She knew they shouldn't have been doing what they were, though at that moment in time it was the last thing that she was thinking about. It wasn't long before the kiss grew more passionate and Finn walked back with Rachel to the kitchen counter. He lifted her gently and placed her so that she was sitting on it, her lips never once leaving his. Finn parted Rachel's legs so that he was standing between them and her hands found his t-shirt to pull it over his head. After removing it from him she dropped it onto the floor as Finn slowly ran his hands up her thighs. Rachel gasped as his hands found their way under her nightdress and his lips fell to her throat. She rolled her head to one side a little, a sigh of approval passing her lips as he kissed and nibbled his way across her tender flesh. Finn's hand found the small of Rachel's back as he pulled her forwards on the kitchen counter so that she was sitting on the edge. Rachel ran her hand over Finn's hair gently and pulled him a little closer to her so that she could kiss him once more. However, before her lips had the chance to touch his, footsteps sounded from out in the hallway. Finn stepped back and Rachel stood up, she frowned, and turned around just waiting for the door to open as Finn pulled his shirt back on.

Dom stepped through the door in the kitchen and Rachel forced a small smile as he headed to the sink to get himself a glass of water, which she guessed was to take to bed with him. "Sorry, were you talking?"

Rachel shook her head, answering before Finn could. "No, I was just having a drink."

"Oh . . ." Dom smiled and turned around to the sink with his glass as Finn took Rachel's arm and made her take a step closer to him.

Finn dipped his head to whisper to Rachel, "don't think of him as stopping that from happening, just think of him as delaying it . . ." he let go of her arm and stood up straighter after he had finished speaking, a small smile playing on his lips as Rachel swallowed hard.

She was rendered speechless for a moment before she managed to sort herself out enough to speak, having felt like she'd just melted at Finn's words. "I think I better go back to bed, night night . . ." she wandered out of the kitchen and to the stairs, re-playing what had happened between herself and Finn over and over in her mind as she walked across the landing and into the room she was using.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello guys, sorry for the slow updates but you have to realise it's really hard to think of new ideas for the fanfic, I just want to thank you all for your continued support, it means alot. I love you all and thankyou for waiting for the updates, enjoy! **

Rachel let her body sink into the expensive leather seating of the car that Dom was driving. They were going in the direction of Santana's salon though Rachel had no idea where it was. Santana had texted Rachel earlier that morning and told her that she was down to have the free treatment that she had promised her at the party that day. Finn had allowed her to have the afternoon off, though she felt guilty about it after what had gone on that morning. On going into work Rachel had found the people who worked on the machines kicking off about there being no material. After a conversation with Mercedes, Rachel had told her that she had ordered what she had been asked to the night before. So, they were left with a dilemma and had been unsure of what to do. Hayley had phoned Finn while Rachel had placed the order once again and when he had arrived, he hadn't been as annoyed as Rachel thought that he might have been. She had had no intention in telling him that she needed to have the afternoon off but it turned out that Santana had called him too and he had let her know it wouldn't be a problem. As she sat in the car she thought about what had happened, though she had no idea how things could have gotten so mixed up. She had second-guessed herself all morning as to whether she had ordered what she had been asked to, but she was sure she had. She decided to try and remember to ask Finn if he knew anything about it on getting back. She knew that he intended staying at the factory in her absence and she did feel bad about it, after he already let her have so much time off as it was. However, he had told her on more than one occasion that morning that he didn't mind her leaving early and if she was truthful she was excited about the massage she was due to have.

Rachel had been worried about getting back in time to pick Dempsey up from nursery but Finn had assured her that if she wasn't he would pick her up instead. They hadn't mentioned anything about what had happened between them the previous night and Rachel had wondered why, though given they'd both had such a hectic mornings she guessed that was at least part of the reason. That, and the knowledge that Hudson's probably wasn't the best place to discuss it. Everytime she'd been left on her own or in silence the clinch she had shared with Finn the night before was what she had thought about, she couldn't get it, or him off her mind and she knew that as her feeling's were growing it was just making the situation that they were in more and more complicated. She sighed quietly in the back of the car as she thought about what had happened between herself and Dom. Before she'd had the chance to respond to his offer, Finn had interrupted and told him that he wanted to speak to him. She hadn't known what they had spoken about but she had a niggling feeling that it was her. She had considered not mentioning anything to Dom about it in fear of it being awkward between them, but she knew that it would probably be awkward either way and the least that she could do was to let him know where he stood with her. It wasn't that she didn't like him, she did, and she thought that as much as she knew of him he was a lovely guy. However, she was head over heels in love with his boss, and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to let him know that, without giving anything away about her feelings for Finn or hurting his. Once again after getting lost in her thoughts, Rachel hadn't even noticed that the car had stopped; it took Dom speaking to her to pull her from her thoughts and prompt her to get out of the car.

"Rachel you're here . . ."

"Oh, sorry Dom I was miles away there . . . Thanks for the lift . . ."

"You're welcome. Have a nice afternoon."

"Thank you . . ." Rachel smiled and opened the door to get out of the car when her earlier thoughts came back to her about speaking to Dom. She wanted to put it off but knew that she would only worry about it until she did, and that was what prompted her to talk, though how unsure she was about doing so was evident in her tone. "Dom . . . About last night . . ."

"Don't mention it, Rachel . . ." He smiled a warm smile and Rachel sighed, returning one.

"No, I want to say that I don't want you to think that I'm just ignoring it, I would have said yesterday but Finn interrupted me. It's not that I don't like you; I just don't want anything like that at the moment. But, if you wanted to go out one night as friends I might be able to free up a space in my diary for you . . ."

Dom laughed and nodded, "well if you manage to find that space be sure to let me know."

Rachel nodded with a small smile, "have a nice day, Dom."

"You too."

Rachel walked into the salon that Santana ran and there was a large open reception area that was done out in white with a red statement wall in the middle that the reception desk sat against. There were two chairs in the corner and a stand with various products on it. Rachel considered going over to find out what she was selling, but knowing that she didn't have enough money to buy anything stopped her. She was only there after being offered a freebie. She walked over to the reception desk and was about to inform the woman behind it of her name when Santana stepped out into the open area and smiled in her direction. Rachel returned the smile and when Santana reached her she accepted and returned a hug and a kiss on each cheek. "Hi Rachel, how are you?"

"Quite excited for this massage"

Santana laughed, "Come on then"

"Do you do it?"

Santana shook her head, "I'm not doing yours, I'm going to have one too. I've got the girls to have it so we can be in the same room."

"I didn't even know you could do that"

"It's usually more for couples but girlfriends do it sometimes."

"Oh right . . ."

Santana led Rachel down a wide corridor, and on either side of her there were five treatment rooms. There was a chair for whoever was waiting outside each one of the rooms and the doors were made from some kind of expensive wood. Santana opened the door to treatment room two and Rachel stepped inside, letting it close behind her as she returned the smiles of the two blondes standing in front of her, one of them at the side of each of the two beds. The two girls, Rachel guessed, weren't much older than she was and they were dressed in cropped white trousers and a white tunic, their make-up had been applied perfectly and their hair was pulled back into ponytails. Rachel silently wondered whether they were told how to dress and appear when they were at work, though she was distracted from her thoughts as Santana spoke.

"Have you ever had a massage before Rachel?"

"Umm, no . . ." Rachel admitted. Like Brody would have allowed that, she thought. Even if it had been a female massaging her he would have stopped her and she guessed trying to explain the bruises she had would have taken any enjoyment out of the treatment.

"Don't worry," the blonde girl who was standing by the bed on the right-hand side spoke. "We need you to undress so that you're just wearing your knickers. You can put your clothes on the chair in the corner, then lay down on the bed underneath the towel on there, and I'll leave a folded up towel for you to place over your front. We'll come back in five minutes."

Rachel gave a small nod and Santana stepped to one side as the two girls left. Santana then closed a curtain that was in the middle of the room as both herself and Rachel undressed and moved to lay on the beds. "Have you had these before Santana?" Rachel questioned, though she didn't have to raise her voice too much due to the quiet of the room.

"Yeah, too many times to count. Have you really never had a massage?"

"No . . . I never have time, do I? What with Dempsey and everything . . ." Rachel told her, unsure of why she had felt the need to elaborate on why she had never had the treatment.

"Then I think your me time is well overdue . . ."

Rachel laughed quietly and nodded in agreement, "yeah, me too."

It was moments later when the two girls returned and the one that had told Rachel what to do walked over to stand by the side of the bed that she was laid on, the other one going to stand by the side of the bed Santana was on. Rachel shifted slightly so that she was a little more comfortable before settling down for her massage, swallowing hard when the therapist spoke after adjusting the towel to expose one of Rachel's legs. "That's a fairly big scar on your leg Rachel, how old is it?"

"It's about two and half years old . . . Why?" She frowned, utterly confused as to why it would matter.

"Oh we just have to check in case it could be painful, so if there was a chance it could be we wouldn't massage over it."

"Oh right . . ." she gave a small smile, which the blonde returned, before applying some oil to her skin.

Rachel was pleased that she hadn't asked what had caused it, being so taken aback about her asking about it in the first place she wasn't sure she would have been able to make up a convincing lie on the spot. However, even though Rachel hadn't been asked about it, it didn't make the memory non-existent and it came flooding back to her with a vengeance.

It was a month before Rachel was due to give birth and she had told Brody the previous day how scared she was about it. However, he'd woken her up early that morning and had told her he needed to go out for an early business meeting but that he would be back. She had gone and done some shopping, bought some clothes and made sure the nursery she had decorated for her baby was finished. For the rest of the afternoon and the night she had done pointless things to try and take her mind off Brody not being there. Rachel had had a bath and changed into nighty before curling up on the couch, silently wondering where he was but at the same time was trying not to get herself too worked up about it.

When the clock reached half twelve in the morning Rachel began to get angry, he knew how worried she was yet he thought that it was all right for him to stay out all day and all night. She had tried calling him but he had turned his phone off in the afternoon and she was suspicious that he was hiding something from her by doing so. When the house began to grow cold she picked up a blanket and covered herself with it. Rachel guessed she must have nodded off as the next thing that she knew, Brody had opened the door with a clatter and it startled her. She frowned and stood up before walking into the hallway of the house, shaking her head as it dawned on her that he was drunk. "Where have you been?"

"Out, I told you I was going out this morning." He closed the door shut heavy handily before walking straight past Rachel and into the living room.

"No, you told me that you were going to a meeting and that you'd be back."

"I am back."

"You're drunk."

"Well done." he smirked before laughing at his own comment as he reached into the cupboard to pick up an expensive bottle of Whiskey.

As he went to pour it into a glass, Rachel walked over and took it from him before shaking her head as she spoke again, the anger she felt seeping through into her tone. "No, don't just have more to drink. I want to know why you did that?" she snapped, "it was only last night that I told you how worried I was that something happened or that I would end up having to go through it on my own and you think that going off all day and leaving me was the right thing to do. You didn't even tell me where you were going."

He tutted and shrugged, "oh don't over-react Rachel, nothing happened did it."

"Even if it had you wouldn't have known, you turned your phone off."

"Yeah, I did. You're doing my head in, now get over it, give me that bottle and give me a kiss."

Rachel scoffed and shook her head a little before speaking up once more. "You have got to be joking. You can get stuffed Brody. Stay on the couch tonight, I don't even want to speak to you." Rachel snapped and turned to leave the room, but before she could get out of the door, Brody turned around and threw a glass at her. However, due to the alcohol in his system he missed her and it smashed off the wall, causing one of the shards cut her leg. Blood immediately began to seep from the wound, but before Rachel had the chance to do anything, Brody was on her, holding either one of her shoulders as he turned her around and pushed her back against the wall harshly. "You ever talk to me like that again and it won't just be a cut on your leg you get." Brody was so close to Rachel that she could smell the alcohol on him that he had been drinking, as well as nicotine, though she thought better than to question him about if he had been smoking. "You can stay on the couch tonight and I expect an apology in the morning." he tapped her on the cheek firmly with his hand before pushing her backwards as he let go and walked upstairs, leaving a terrified Rachel shaking and fighting back her tears as she stood in the broken glass.


End file.
